Melaka rep sees red over water rationing exercise exceeding cycle

MELAKA: A Melaka assemblyman vented his frustration in a WhatsApp chat group comprising top state officials when his constituents failed to get their water supply restored after a 24-hour rationing exercise.

Duyong assemblyman Damian Yeo Shen Li hit the Melaka Water Company (SAMB) key management team with a series of harsh messages yesterday after supply did not reach households at 10am and had still not done so by 5.30pm.

Water had been cut off from 10am the previous day under the alternate 24-hour rationing exercise being conducted due to the prolonged drought in the state.

“Macam mana ni. Mana janji-janji katakan air sudah masuk? Please lah?” he asked in one of his messages. (What is going on. What has happened to the promises that supply will be restored?)

This prompted the administrator of the chat group, a Tenaga Nasional Bhd official, to advise him to watch his words, to which Yeo retorted: “SAMB has not kept its word. Calls are not being heeded, acting stupid. The reasons are not good enough, my complaints are being totally ignored.”

Yeo said he could not contain his frustration after many residents from Hang Tuah Village, Kampung Duyong and Masjid Laksamana Hang Tuah appealed to him for the water supply to be restored.

“They are poor village folk who have not got a single drop of water since the day before, ” he said.

The rationing exercise, which started on Wednesday, affected 550,673 people, or 62.8% of Melaka’s population.

The 24-hour rationing will be carried out on alternate days from 10am.

“I need to give an answer to my constituents, as well as give them a solution.

“No use of me being an assemblyman if I can’t assist those seeking my help, ” he added.

Yeo later apologised in the group for his outburst while SAMB took steps to ensure supply was resumed in the affected areas.