The Rural and Regional Development Ministry corrects the 2026 Budget figure for the Rural Water Supply Programme, detailing project status and allocations for Sabah, Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development has clarified the budget allocation for the Rural Water Supply (BALB) Programme nationwide.
Deputy Minister Datuk Rubiah Wang said the correct figure is RM424.7 million, not the RM720 million previously stated for Sabah in the 2026 Budget.
She said this allocation covers projects in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
For Sabah in 2025, three new projects and 79 extension projects were approved with an allocation of RM103.6 million.
Sixteen projects are under construction, 39 are in the pre-implementation stage, 16 are completed and 11 have been cancelled.
For the 2026 Budget, 83 projects were approved for Sabah with overall costs of RM4.065 billion and an allocation of RM143 million.
Rubiah was responding to a question from Senator Datuk Bobbey Suan in the Dewan Negara.
In a separate reply, she addressed a delayed rural road project in Sarawak’s Saratok parliamentary constituency.
The Jalan Serandong-Perpat Paloh Batang Maro project is under review after objections from residents over its original alignment.
“A contractor was appointed, but due to these objections, its implementation needs to be reviewed and a new alignment prepared,” she told Senator Pele Peter Tinggom.
She said 12 basic infrastructure projects worth RM414.14 million have been approved for Saratok in 2025.
These include rural roads, bridges, water supply, social amenities and housing.
Six projects are at the pre-implementation stage and three are under implementation.
For Rolling Plan 5, the ministry has allocated 316 projects totalling RM734.75 million to the Sarawak government.
This includes four projects in Kabong worth RM150 million for rural roads, bridges and water supply.
