Desperate situation persists for islanders

Workers unloading boxes of bottled water delivered to Pulau Banggi.

KOTA KINABALU: Desperate islanders at the parched northernmost island of Banggi are digging into riverbeds to get water even as supplies are reaching the island.

Islanders at remote villages such as Kampung Pangkalan Darat and Kampung Lok Tohog, about 20km from Banggi’s main settlement of Karakit, have had to find their own water supply.

As a result, some have resorted to digging a dried-out riverbed and begun pumping whatever water available there.

Banggi islander Salma Marail said there was still no rain on the island and water supply from Kudat was only available at the Water Department’s makeshift depot at Karakit.

“To get the water, we need to have a vehicle such as a small truck or hire one. Some islanders cannot afford it,” she said.

She said remote settlements like Pangkalan Darat were about 20km from Karakit and travelling the distance to get water was too time consuming for villagers.

Kudat assistant district officer for Banggi, Awang Shahrin Awang Bakar, said the Water Department would be shipping about 20,000 litres of treated water from Kudat to the island three times a week.