Kpg Marakai folk seek electricity, water supply
KUCHING: Villagers from Kampung Marakai, located some 20km from Serian, are calling on the government to provide them with basic amenities.
Over 80 houses in the village do not have water or electricity supply.
“We noticed that some houses received the1Malaysia water tank from the BN ( Barisan Nasional) government to collect the rainwater as source of their water supply to cater for the drinking and cooking water,” Democratic Action Party ( DAP) Serian vicechairman Bunsin Kalun told a press conference yesterday.
“The nearest river is approximately 40 minutes walking distance from their village and as such, they have no other choice and have to rely on rainwater for drinking and cooking.”
According to him, each full 1Malaysia water tank can only fulfil each household’s water needs for a maximum of three days.
“If there’s no rain within more than three days, the villagers would face a shortage of drinking and cooking water,” he said.
According to him, when there’s no rain, villagers have to travel to Kampung Triboh, 12km away, to get water from a machine for 20 sen per litre — costing each family around RM60 per month.
He claimed the villagers are forced to walk over 1km daily to bathe and wash their clothing in an oil palm plantation drainage system.
“Meaning that the villagers are taking a shower and washing their clothing in highly contaminated water by pesticide, fertiliser and garbage from the plantation. Some villagers have skin disease due to the highly contaminated water,” he claimed.
According to him, the villagers rely on generators for electricity from 6 pm to midnight and this costs each household approximately RM300 per month daily.
“After the formation of Malaysia since 1963, why has the BN government failed to provide these two basic needs to the people? Is it very costly for the government of the day to provide clean water supply and electricity to the rural people?” Bunsin questioned.
Meanwhile, state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen called on Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem to investigate Kampung Marakai’s water pollution problem.
“I urged Adenan to walk the talk to protect the environment since he mentioned about the environment recently,” he said.