Papar district Water Dept clarifies rumours of clean water being sold from water depots

KOTA KINABALU: The Papar district Water Department has denied any clean water being sold from water depots by certain quarters in the drought-stricken district.

In a statement here on Tuesday (March 26), Papar disaster management committee chairman Mohd Fuad Abdullah said investigations found that the water sold was from river sources or gravity water from certain villages, and they were being offered to the public to be purchased based on tank size and location of buyers.

“So public members who are facing emergency drought situation due to the El Nino phenomenon effect could reach out to the disaster operation control centre which coordinated various agencies and is active round the clock, at the Papar district secretariat building or the phone line 088-914999,” he added.

Mohd Fuad said for Tuesday, clean water supply delivery was conducted at 22 localities based on a set schedule.

About 44 villages, 37 schools, 19 housing areas and eight religious houses in the district involving 150,000 individuals, were affected by the drought as of Tuesday.

“The operation delivery clean water supply involved 32 assets and logistics from various agencies and departments involved.

“The district Fire and Rescue Department also received three reports of bushfires today, while the Papar drought disaster media centre on Monday (March 25) received four reports of open fires.

“These fires also affected the air quality here which could impact the health of civilians, while creating conflict on the utilisation of water, especially during the drought,” he added.

On a more positive note, he shared that the Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) society also contributed their expertise in processing clean water sourced from Sungai Mandalipau, where 1,400 litres of clean water were processed on Tuesday through the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) method.

“MRC using its 5-tonne Hino lorry also carried and delivered the water to affected residents.

“Papar district disaster management committee is the second in this country to benefit from the WASH technique implemented after Johor in March last year, when the state was facing water crisis due to floods,” he added.