1. Sewerage Infrastructure Development in Sarawak
Lau Hieng Ung
Sewerage Services Department Sarawak

2. CONTENT Existing Sewerage Infrastructure Legal Framework
C. Organizational Set Up
D. Current Development
E. Future Direction

3. Area in sq km
Population (2014 estimate)
Malaysia
329,847
30.6 million
Sarawak
124,450
2.67 million
37.7%
8.7%

4. Existing Sewerage Infrastructure
Depends almost entirely on individual septic tanks
Commercial complexes, major institutions and high-rise buildings are provided with Imhoff tanks or small package plants
Grey water, oil and grease are not collected or treated

5. Existing Sewerage Infrastructures in Sarawak
A. Sewerage Inventory as at 31 Dec 2013
Population Equivalent Connected to Centralised System
as at 31 May 2015
Existing Sewerage Infrastructures in Sarawak
Type of Treatment
Population Equivalent (PE)
Septic Tank
2,007,820
Communal Septic Tank
10,900
Package Plant
126,926
Centralised System
128,893
Total
2,274,539
Area
Population Equivalent (PE)
Kuching Package 1
68,253
Bintulu Town
87,550
Source: Inventory of JPPS

6. Rancangan Malaysia Ke-11 (RMK-11)
Include Public Sewage Treatment Plant, Private Sewage Treatment Plant and Communal Septic Tank

7. LEGAL FRAMEWORK Sewerage Systems and Services Ordinance, 2005
Applies to areas under Municipal Councils and City Administration ( 50% of State Population)
Powers, functions and duties conferred by this Ordinance are vested in the Urban Sewerage Systems Authority
Director of Sewerage Services Department is appointed to assume the role of the Authority

8. Powers and Functions of The Authority
To plan, design and establish public sewerage systems
(Minister Responsible for Urban Development)
To appoint a management agency to manage, operate and maintain any public sewerage system or to provide sewerage services
(Minister Responsible for Environment)
To supervise, monitor and provide direction for the performance and activities of any management agency

9. Powers and Functions of The Authority
To issue guidelines for design standards and specification of septic tank, private and public sewerage systems
To regulate the process of treatment and disposal of sewage and sewage sludge and its by-products
To fix fees and charges for sewerage services provided by the management agency and the payment or recovery of such fees or charges (State Cabinet)

10. C. ORGANISATION Department Set up
MMKN approved the creation of Sewerage Services Department on
Sewerage Systems and Services Ordinance, 2005 was put in force on

11. D. Current Development Systematic planning and development of
Sewerage Infrastructures in Sarawak commenced
under Ninth Malaysia Plan(from 2006)
Main Emphases are on :
(a) Provision of a Centralized Sewerage System
for Kuching City
(b) Provision of a Centralized Sewerage System
for Miri City
(c) Provision of Septic Sludge Treatment Plants for major towns
(d) Formulation of Centralized Sewerage System
Master Plans for major towns

12. Kuching City Centralised Sewerage System Masterplan (2003)

13. -Proposed 67,000 PE with Trunk Sewer for 270,000 PE
Centralized Sewerage System in Kuching City (Package 1)
-Proposed 67,000 PE with Trunk Sewer for 270,000 PE

14. Key Features of Kuching Centralised Sewerage System Package 1 Which Will Set the Direction for Future Centralised Sewerage Infrastructure Development In Sarawak
True gravity flow – one pump station
Micro-Tunneling extensively used
Modular Construction of Treatment Plant
Inclusion of Property Connections in the Contract

15. Shaft Construction in Progress

16. Tunneling with 1.5 m diameter Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)
in progress at Manhole T12 (Trunk Sewer)

17. 1.5 m diameter Connecting MH-T6 to MH-T7A Under Sarawak River

18. Miri Centralised Wastewater Management System Phase 1
Main Components:
Centralised Sewage Treatment Plant (100,000PE module)
Sewer Network
Trunk Sewer (0.6m to 1.8m dia.)–15km
Local Sewer (0.225m to 0.45m dia.)–51km
Property Connection - 3,000 properties
Status :
Survey and Design Stage (target to call tender by February 2016)

19. Septic Sludge Treatment Plants
To enable Scheduled Desludging of septic tanks and package plants to improve their treatment efficiency.
Existing three plant : Matang, Sibu and Miri.
Priority Towns: Sarikei/Bintangor, Sri Aman/Betong, Kapit and Limbang.
Mechanism: SSD builds and operates the plant. Local councils desludge and send sludge to the plant for treatment. Local councils collect through council rates and pay for the operation of the plant.

20. Master Plan Studies
Cities and municipalities currently with Central Sewerage Master Plans are :
Kuching (2003), Sibu (2009) and Miri (2009). Bintulu Sewerage Master Plan is completed by Bintulu Development Authority (1980’s).
Priority towns for Master Plan Studies are:
Samarahan, Mukah and Sarikei/Bintangor.

21. E. Future Direction Project Financing
Capital Expenditure by Government
Operating Expenditure by Users

22. Institutional Arrangement
Department shall plan, implement and operate new public centralised sewerage systems.
Local authorities will still operate existing treatment systems until these are rationalised.

23. Public Acceptance/Rejection
Individual Septic Tanks are generally acceptable to the public and it costs them nothing.
We need awareness programs and public relation exercise to change this mindset.
We have to move the mindset of the general public from “sanitation and public health” to “water resource and environmental protection”.

24. Our Success will depend on:
Efficient Management and Public Relation:
Construction Stage (traffic management and property damages)
Connection Stage (enter private properties)
Operation and Maintenance Stage (billing)

25. Thank You