Dompok, who is also President of Upko, said while he has yet to get the actual information on the issue he understood the feelings of his constituents in Kampung Maang.

"It is very difficult for me to ascertain the accuracy of all the information going out in the Press, but I would like to say that we have gone through this in Penampang beforeÉthe Babagon Dam.

"I've had a very hard time explaining to the villagers who were displaced and now this is the second helping," he said when asked to comment on statements from villagers in Kampung Maang who had obtained reports that their area would be affected in the RM2 billion project.

"So I want to ask now, whether this is really necessary. From what I can gather from the newspapers, the project actually involves building a dam across a river and not a tributary.

"Once you build a dam across the river, then I think there's a lot of ecological concerns (that need to be considered). If it is too close to the shore, then perhaps you can get seawater rushing in to take the place of the displaced water in the river," he said.

Dompok, who is also Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, said if this was the case, he believed the project had been upgraded into something bigger.

"So the question is, do we need it (but) what the facts are, I am not privy to that," he said.

Dompok said perhaps the authorities should first address the problem of non-revenue water (NRW) which is about 50 per cent in Sabah.

"For every gallon coming out of the tap there is another gallon wasted.

Perhaps there is something wrong in the water mainsÉbetween your house and the pumping station," he said.

"I think a lot of things need to be looked at by the water authorities, whether there really is a need for this or not because I would have thought the first thing to solve first is the NRW," he said.

Dompok added that he had once suggested that the pipes in the State be replaced in stages such as by 10 per cent every year, which would see all the pipes replaced in 10 years to address the NRW.

In this particular aspect, he said the issue of displacing communities such as in this issue should be given great consideration because they have been living there for ages.

"Because they are the ones who have to pay the price for the water that is pumped out for water supplies," he said, adding if it was indeed true the NRW problem can be tackled, then it is not necessary to do anything else such as the proposed water supply project.

"I suppose it is objectionable on grounds that it is not necessary. But so far, nobody has talked to me, I am waiting for somebody from the water authorities to talk to us because we are the elected representatives of the area but I don't know the facts," he said.

Dompok said as the elected representatives they are the first the constituents would look for.

To another question, he said he has not spoken to Deputy Chief Minister cum Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan about the issue.