

By Zaki Salleh
IPOH: The Regional Sewage Treatment Plant Project and Sewerage Pipe Network in Papan, Kinta District, will bring benefits to the development of Ipoh and its surrounding areas over the next 30 years.
With the completion of this project, it has benefited approximately 250,000 residents in Ipoh and is expected to accommodate up to 500,000 local residents by 2045.
Phase 1 of the project, under the Tenth Malaysia Plan (RMKe-10) allocation, has been successfully completed within the specified contract period.
Valued at RM811 million, this project connects a 75-kilometer sewerage pipe network.
It involves the construction of a new 88-kilometer sewerage pipe network, 9 new pump stations, commissioning and decommissioning of 149 public plants, as well as plants at government premises.
This project is being implemented by the Department of Water and Sewerage Services (JPP) under the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA).
The construction of this modern sewerage pipe network not only helps reduce problems related to the existing sewage treatment system but also enables connections to the sewerage pipe network from new development areas.
It also helps reduce the potential for river pollution and conserves river water quality through the discharge of treated effluent in compliance with the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
Additionally, this sewerage pipe network system allows for the closure of 149 outdated public plants along the network.
This, in turn, opens up opportunities for other developments in the areas where the old plants were located.
Through the implementation of this project, JPP, the agency responsible for sewerage services nationwide, has achieved two recognitions from the Malaysia Book of Records.
These are for the Longest Single Curve Jacking Drive for a 2100mm diameter pipe (832.5 meters), and the Longest Distance 2100mm Diameter Pipe Jacking (2,430.6 meters).
Earlier, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim visited the project site.
He also had the opportunity to visit one of the fully completed sewage pump stations at Taman Cempaka here.