A/HRC/42/47/Add.2 essential that any solutions found to the provision of water are sustainable and that the relevant maintenance and improvements are provided. 35. In order to improve the rural water supply, the Ministry of Rural Development embarked on a Rural Water Supply programme commencing with the Second Malaysia Plan 1971–1975 right up to the Eleventh Malaysia Plan 2016–2020. The main objective of the programme is to provide and expand the coverage of clean and treated water in rural areas throughout the country. It has a target to cover 90 per cent of the population. In addition, the focus on improving basic rural infrastructure in the Government Transformation programme, which was introduced in 2010, has contributed to increasing access to water supply and sanitation in rural areas. Despite the well-formulated policies focusing on the rural water supply, the Special Rapporteur observed that access to drinking water and sanitation services were fragmented for the rural population, including those living in rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak. 36. The fragmentation in the provision of rural water supplies reflects the fragmented roles and responsibilities distributed among the four government entities. The Department of Orang Asli Development oversees the social well-being of Orang Asli as regards their access to basic amenities, including water supply. The Ministries of Rural Development and Health both have water supply programmes in rural areas but they are separate programmes implemented in different areas and over different time periods. The Federal Land and Development Area of the Ministry of Agricultural Land is also responsible for water supply in its mandated area. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the fragmentation of the rural water supply and sanitation services must be addressed, in order to reach the 6.8 million people who comprise the 1.5 million households scattered all over rural areas. In order to reach such a rural population, the Government should have a harmonized approach to the rural water supply and sanitation, including a coordination mechanism to guarantee integration throughout all areas and bodies. 37. Another observation relates to the inequality across regions, particularly in rural areas. As of 2016, 80.5 per cent of the population living in Sabah and Sarawak were connected to centrally piped water services. This is a different situation compared with Peninsular Malaysia, in which the rural population of most states, except Kelantan, enjoys near-universal access to water supply. 4 These figures include only the Malaysian national population, suggesting that the disparities are even higher if one takes into consideration the significant presence of the undocumented population in Sabah and Sarawak. In Sandakan in the State of Sabah, according to official statistics, approximately 43,000 of the 47,000 registered households or premises are connected to a piped water network. However, there are those who are not included in these statistics, such as those who work in factories and plantations that have their own water supply for employees and neighbours, or those who live in remote villages that rely on rainwater as their main source of water. 38. In relation to sanitation in rural areas, the lack of appropriate facilities for the collection and disposal of human excreta remains a challenge. The Special Rapporteur urges the National Water Services Commission to finalize the ongoing initiative to shift the responsibility of emptying septic tanks from users to Indah Water Konsortium. This will be a step forward in ensuring equal access to sanitation for the rural population in relation to the urban population. The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight this as a good practice on the part of the National Water Services Commission to periodically carry out the collection and disposal of excreta, shifting this responsibility from the users to a public body. C. Populations affected by megaprojects 39. Megaprojects, such as large-scale dams, can affect the human rights to water and sanitation of the population at different stages of their implementation, that is during planning, approval and construction, both in the short term and the long term. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur learned about several such projects that had affected access to 4 National Water Services Commission, number of connections for 2015–2016. 9