KOTA KINABALU: Residents in several Tuaran villages have been living with maggot-infested, stinking river water intermittently for the past year.
They believe this is due to a chicken farm dumping waste into the river, which many depend on for water to use for cooking, bathing and washing when their taps run dry.
A Kampung Dansangai resident took to social media to vent her anger, claiming that the matter had been reported to the Environment Department (DOE) and other authorities but the response has been slow.
"This (waste) runs through the Dansangai to Kauluan rivers and to the Telibong treatment plant. Who can live like this all the time?" she asked.
She said that when the dumping begins, the stream turns grey or green, after which the water begins to smell and maggots emerge.
"It is disgusting, smelly and dirty," she said, adding that it took the authorities weeks to come by to check and by then, the maggots would be gone.
She questioned how any proof of waste dumping could be found, given such slow response times.
She added that the authorities told them the farm operator had been fined several times, but this did not seem to be a deterrent.
With the residents already plagued by water disruptions, she said, they did not need this problem to make their daily lives worse.
A spokesman for the DOE said matters relating to livestock rearing were under the Sabah Environmental Protection Department, while the DOE was in charge of animal slaughtering and meat processing, among other things.
He said pollution from livestock rearing could also fall under the Veterinary Services Department (DVS).
A senior DVS officer, meanwhile, said the DOE is the lead agency in pollution issues but public health matters would fall under the Health Department.
The DVS can advise on animal husbandry practices but any press statement must be issued by the ministry, the officer added.
The department falls under the purview of the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry.
The Star has reached out to the higher authorities for comment.
