Residents disappointed over water shortage during Gawai

KUCHING: A resident of Rantau Dilang in Kanowit yesterday expressed his disappointment over the delay in solving the water woes affecting 10 longhouses there.

Jana Berinan Mail said his was heartbroken to experience the situation after returning home from overseas for the Gawai Dayak celebration.

He said Rantau Dilang area has proper pipe layout to each of the 10 longhouses – very much like the town area and these longhouse dwellers have all been paying their water bills accordingly.

The area also has proper water reservoir, elevated water tank and pump, he added.

“But during Gawai, the pipe was dry but the relevant water board was not responding. Nobody works during Gawai? That would not be right,” he said, adding that the situation was normal during the last Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Puasa festive seasons.

“This is the third year the water pipe was dry during Gawai celebration. The longhouse folk had brought the issue to Ngemah assemblyman Alexander Vincent, Kanowit MP Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang and the Public Works Department (JKR) engineer but they apparently did nothing to rectify the problem,” Jana lamented.

“The longhouse folk also want to know why the pipe was dry during Gawai but the situation was all fine during the whole 14th general election campaign – there was water 24 hours daily during that period. Therefore the low water pressure is not the issue,” he claimed.

When called for a response of Assistant Minister of Water Supply Datuk Liwan Lagang said his ground staff informed him that the Rantau Dilang low water pressure was due to several burst pipes.

The area receives water from from Sibu Water Board (SWB) via the Nibong Tada booster station.

“During Gawai festive season, we were receiving low flow from SWB due to several pipe burst at SWB Stabau area. On May 31, we only received about 1.3MLD (million litres per day) but our normal requirement is 2.0MLD. Some areas at end of the supply such as Rantau Dilang, Jalan Tuah, Bawan and those located before Mapai had experienced low water pressure,” Liwan said. KUCHING: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu ( PBB) Gedong branch is looking at distributing at least 2,000 Sarawak flags to households across the constituency by tomorrow.

This is a move initiated by Gedong assemblyman Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais in support of Sarawak government’s fight for Sarawak’s rights.

In a statement sent via WhatsApp yesterday, he said Gedong would want to be among the first few constituencies to promote and enhance the spirit of unity among Sarawakians to stay united and support the fight for Sarawak’s rights under Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63).

“The theme ‘Sarawak Rights For Sarawakians’ should be built and developed among our people irrespective of race, religion, age, gender, organisation or political alignment in Sarawak.

“Sarawakians from all walks of life should be proud of being Sarawakians; therefore, we must be willing to swim and sink with the Sarawak government.

“We should be together in the fight for our rights enshrined in MA63, which was signed when Malaysia was duly formed in 1963,” he said.

Naroden pointed out that there would be no Malaysia without the agreement, adding: “We, all Malaysians, must fully understand this.”

He said should Sarawak government lose in the Federal Court case against Petroliam Nasional Bhd ( Petronas), Sarawakians should back Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and his legal team to fight through whichever avenues available, ‘until we get the positive result and respect’.

“In this sort of constitutional rights fight, permit me to quote a proverb from my former Ohio professor: ‘ What really matters is not the size of the dog, but it’s the fight in the dog that really matters the most’,” he added.

Petronas recently applied before the Federal Court to seek confirmation over the exclusive ownership of petroleum resources in the country, including those in Sarawak.