A banner is hung at the temple where free water is given to the villagers
KOTA KINABALU: Villagers in Ranau breathe a sigh of relief after a new water purification plant was installed and water tankers arrived.
Many had queued as early as 6am to get the water and to stock up for the evening’s ‘buka puasa’.
Atim, 59, said she had been getting clean water from the plant located at the Ranau Chinese temple since Friday.
“Thank goodness for all these Good Samaritans for bringing clean water to us here,” she said, adding it was difficult cleaning and eating without water the last few days.
Thousands of boxes of bottled water had been delievered to the district since Monday when almost 1,000 villagers were moved to relief centres following a mudflood at Mesilou and the foothills of Mount Kinabalu.
The water shortage that affected more than 10,000 people was a result of the clogging of two water intake points – Kimolohing and Kg Bambangan – due to logs and debris from Monday's mudslide.
It is understood that work to clear the logs from the Kg Bambangan's upstream intake point are being carried out, whereas debris from the Kimolohing intake point have been cleared, allowing 60% of water to be restored for villagers.
Work to clear the two intake points completely would take quite some time, depending on the weather among other factors.
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