Water trickles in for Banggi folk

JKKKs of Banggi receiving bottled water from the NGOs and public in Banggi yesterday.

KOTA KINABALU: Pulau Banggi remains dry as critical water supplies trickled into Malaysia’s largest island.

In a ceremony yesterday, Banggi assemblyman Datuk Abdul Mijul Unaini distributed bottled water to islanders who have been begging for help for the last two weeks.

Some 1,300 boxes of bottled water were sent in on Monday while 30,000 litres of potable treated water were brought in by the state Water Department by boat for hospitals and other critically affected areas.

The treated water is also currently being pumped into water tanks at the Karakit Banggis main settlement.

However, the move to have a special ceremony was criticised by state minister Datuk Masidi Manjun in a tweet, who urged the local assemblyman not to waste time with ceremonies.

“YBs are elected to serve the people, especially their constituents unconditionally. Unnecessary protocol and ceremonies should be set aside”, he said.

Mijul when contacted said there was no ceremony but a briefing to all the chairmen of the village security and development committees on how the bottled water should be distributed.

“We don’t want any problems, why should there be any ceremony? This is a dry spell and we want to give help as soon as possible,” he said.

He said they were focusing on giving water to villagers in Kampung Singgahmata, Kampung Perpaduan Karakit, Kampung Log Tohog and Kampung Kobong as well as the hospital and some schools first.

Although villagers across Banggi said that their traditional water sources from wells and streams had dried up, assistant district officer for Banggi Awang Shahrin Awang Bakar said only 75% of the 25,000 population were seriously affected by the dry spell.

“Water supply will also be given to those less affected if there is extra,” he said.

Since last weekend, most areas in Sabah, including northern Kudat and Pitas, experienced heavy rain that brought some relief to the three-month dry spell.