Dry taps lead to dismal Raya celebration for Sabah villagers

KOTA KINABALU: Mohd Azmil Belia can’t help but cast an envious eye on other Malaysians.

While many are occupied entertaining people for open houses, Mohd Azmil and his fellow villagers in Kampung Paris 1, Sukau in Kinabatangan were, on the other hand, busy worrying about where and when they’re going to get the next drop of water.

He said people in the village in the Sabah east coast district had been suffering even before Raya as they had to deal with dry taps since the start of Ramadan last month.

These frequent and unscheduled water cuts, he said, had compounded the misery for the villagers particularly those celebrating Raya in the one week leading up to the festivities.

“Besides staying up into the night to catch (rain) water, villagers also had to buy water (from sources other than their taps) for cooking, sahur (pre-dawn meal before fasting) and buka puasa (breaking of fast),” he said.

“The feeling of joy over fasting and Hari Raya Aidilfitri has gone this year.

“In fact, the clean water supply problem has haunted the village for years now but the issue has grown more critical a week before the arrival of Raya,” he added.

Mohd Azmil pleaded with the Sandakan Water Department, state water director as well as the Sabah Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya to look into their plight personally and put an end to their quandary.

He also urged the authorities to issue notices earlier in advance if they wanted to carry out water rationing exercises so the villagers would know when to prepare.

“And for instance, if the situation reaches a critical stage like now, the water authorities should send water supplies more frequently to villages.

“The government should not think too far ahead like building a space launch station when even basic infrastructures like the water supply is not even resolved.

“Imagine what the villagers, who are mostly under the B40 income group, have to go through.

“Nonetheless, we are still paying our water bills monthly to avoid our supply being terminated despite not getting the full service,” Mohd Azmil said.

Sukau assemblyman Datuk Jafry Ariffin, when contacted, said he had tried helping to alleviate the problem by building water tanks in order to store and supply water to the village.

He said, however, the effort was rendered futile after the Water Department failed to supply water to the tanks.

He added this was not a problem when Kinabatangan MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin was the deputy chief minister cum Sabah works minister previously.

“I have also brought up this issue with the Deputy Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister but no action has been taken so far,” he said.

The water supply problem, which included dry taps or low pressure, has grown over the years, with people from different parts of Sabah complaining about the issue on a daily basis.

Some, like residents in Kampung Suang Parai, located in the Sepanggar constituency near here, have also staged peaceful demonstrations, appealing to the state government to resolve the problem.

Earlier this week, Shahelmey, who is also Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, advised the public to store water to cope with the demand during the Hari Raya week.

He said water production had reached maximum levels and the Water Department was continuing to monitor the distribution to minimise disruptions.