Relieved Sandakan Homestay Operators Hope For Stable Supply To Avoid Cancellations  

SANDAKAN, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Rural homestay operators in Sandakan are hoping that the water supply will be stabilised and fully restored within the next two to three days, to avoid cancelling bookings.

Andrianawati Mustapha, 42, who operates a homestay in Taman Rimba, expressed her relief as the water supply resumed this morning, enabling her staff to refill the property's depleted storage tanks.

She explained that during the five-day disruption, she was forced to cancel two bookings from customers who had planned to host events at her premises. 

She added that her homestay is a popular venue for weddings, family days, and other functions that involve large numbers of guests.

“On the first day of the water cut, we had to supply guests with mineral water, which increased our operating costs.

“The guests were in the midst of hosting a wedding just before the disruption began. It completely depleted our reserves, despite having two storage tanks,” she told Bernama.

Yesterday, the Sabah State Water Department (JANS) announced that the Segaliud Water Treatment Plant had resumed operations. As of Wednesday night, the plant has been producing 130 million litres per day after repair works were completed on the 275kV Kolopis-Segaliud transmission line.

Andrianawati further explained that the water supply issues have adversely affected not just rural homestay operators like herself, but also restaurants, car washes and hotels.

Meanwhile, Mardinah Jikur, 41, operator of The Agathis Residence, noted that while her lodge is equipped with water storage tanks, prolonged disruption would inevitably deplete these reserves.  

She added that during the recent five-day outage, some customers came very close to cancelling their bookings due to concerns over the lodge's ability to maintain a sufficient water supply.

“We felt a great sense of relief when the water supply resumed on Wednesday, as it allowed us to refill our storage tanks, which had run dry.

“Fortunately, the supply was restored; otherwise, we would have been forced to cancel the bookings for guests checking in today,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fatimah Kalbi, a receptionist at a local hotel, explained that the hotel’s management had been compelled to purchase water deliveries twice a day at RM300 per delivery to replenish its storage tanks.

Although JANS provided a daily water delivery, it was insufficient to meet the hotel’s full requirements.

“This marks the eighth day that the IJM area has been without a piped water supply. Throughout this period, we have had to source water externally to maintain operations.

“In fact, several hotels in the vicinity have had to close temporarily to avoid rising operational costs due to purchasing tanker water.

“We have also notified guests that water pressure in en-suite bathrooms is low, which has unfortunately deterred some potential customers from staying with us,” she added.

-- BERNAMA