Saebah shows her empty pail.
A villager stands next to her rain-filled water storage tank.
Saebah (third right) and other villagers tell of water shortage in the village.
DARO: Residents of Kampung Nanga Besar near here have to depend on rain and drain water for their daily need as treated and piped water supply is still a pipe dream for them.
Saebah Demit, 38, said their predicament was worst during the dry season.
“Our life is very difficult since five years ago in as far as piped water is concerned. Life is hard without it. Water is a daily necessity for drinking and washing,” she said.
Ahmad Jirin, 21, meanwhile said the mostly farmers and fishermen villagers sometimes had to buy mineral water in Daro for drinking but washed using water from the drain.
“But who can afford to buy bottled mineral water all the time,” he lamented.
He said the only available solution in sight was if the government of the day would extend piped water supply to the village and other villages in the area.
There are about 200 houses and over a 1,000 people in the village (Kpg Nanga Besar).
The village head, Hassan Kelai, 56, said treated piped water supply was supposed to be extended to them five years ago but somehow it did not materialise.
He said the water supply from Jemoreng to his village was cut off after a mill was built at Tanjong Jol.