Memories of dry period come flooding back for settler

KOTA TINGGI: The current water woes in the district have caused memories of a similar dry period some 30 years ago to come flooding back for Felda settler Ismail Abd Rahman.

The 75-year-old said when he first moved to Felda Lok Heng Timur in the early 1980s, water was scarce and temper among the settlers reached a boiling point.

“The area just opened up then and there was hardly enough water for the settlers and we usually had to fight for it.

“It came to a point where settlers would lock their pipes to make sure that no one stole their water,” he said.

Ismail said this time around, taps in the Felda scheme had been dry for more than a week and people even stored their water in plastic barrels placed in front of their houses.

“I have to guard the barrels to make sure no one steals them. I cannot afford to lose the barrels of clean water as my family needs it,” he added.

But he was puzzled why only Felda Lok Heng Timur and Lok Heng Barat were affected when Felda Lok Heng Selatan did not have water problem.

Sundry shop owner Hairusabri Samsuri, 46, said that people had been buying cartons of mineral water bottles ever since the area was hit by the problem.

“In just a couple of days, I had doubled the sale of 1.5-litre mineral water bottles.

“The villagers are not buying the bottled water just for drinking. Some even use it for bathing,” he added.

He said Syarikat Air Johor had given them a schedule where every two days, the company’s tankers would come and provide water to the settlers.