KOTA KINABALU: Some 200 families in five villages in Sabah's northern poverty-rife Pitas district will finally enjoy clean, regular water supply through a project under Yayasan PETRONAS' Program Memampankan Ekonomi Asas Rakyat (Mekar).
The villages benefitting from the programme were Kampung Boribi Kanibongan, Kampung Gunsali, Kampung Mapad Kanibongan, Kampung Ranggal and Kampung Mangkapon Darat, about 200km from here.
"We hope the local communities will be able to enjoy a consistent supply of clean water, especially during the dry season," Yayasan PETRONAS chief executive officer Shariah Nelly Francis said.
With the support of PETRONAS Sabah and Labuan, the project involved the Pitas District Office, Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK), village heads and contractors from the beneficiary villages, as well as KLCC Projeks Sdn Bhd as the technical advisor and Tonibung as the implementation partner.
The project was implemented over a period of 18 months.
It utilises a gravity-fed system, solar-powered water pumps as well as water catchment, pipes, pump houses, water filters, main storage tanks and collection points.
To mark the completion of this project, a handover ceremony was held at Kampung Mangkapon Darat last month officiated by state Rural Development Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim.
The ceremony was accompanied by a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activity where students from the villages led by four Program Duta Guru (PDG) teachers learnt to assemble mini race cars using simple materials such as balloons, water bottles and bottle caps.
Mekar is a part of Yayasan PETRONAS' community well-being and development focus area.
PDG is the foundation's signature programme in collaboration with the Education Ministry, through Pusat STEM Negara, under its education focus area.
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