TAWAU: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sabah chief Jimmy Wong said the party will investigate the water quality in the district after personally finding out his water filter was full of mud when it was serviced at his residence at Taman Kafar yesterday.
Jimmy said he called for the service after finding out from a friend at Taman Kuhara Jaya that his water filter was also filled with mud.
“I have collected samples and the residue and will send them to an independent or private water laboratory for analysis. We will do the same for other districts,” he said.
Jimmy said he was very worried over the water quality after reading an article in The Borneo Post quoting former Australian water resources minister Mark K. Brindal as saying that the water supply in Sabah is polluted.
“We will take the samples to Kota Kinabalu and if necessary to overseas to get authenticity of the test. I suggest the Ministry of Infrastructure Development under Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan also do a test,” he said, adding he is also going to show Pairin the samples he took from his water filter as proof.
Jimmy suggested that all the old pipes that are more than 20 years old be replaced immediately with new ones.
He also called on consumer associations to go from house to house to help check the water quality while the environmentalists can check on water pollution caused by plantation activities.
“I hope Tan Sri Joseph Pairin realises our water is not really clean and can really do a check and the Health Department also will do its job. This is no laughing matter, we all drink the same water from the same source regardless of who we are,” he said.
Brindal, an academician attached to the Environment Institute for the University of Adelaide, pointed out when giving a talk on the Australian experience on water issues recently at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in Kota Kinabalu that Malaysians are very lucky to be blessed with the abundance of water within their midst.
They are lucky because water comes from within the country’s border, hence no one can control its supply, he said.
However, he said that having an abundance of water flowing along our rivers does not necessarily translate to having enough water to cater for the nation.
There are two reasons why water scarcity occurs. One is due to the lack of it, and the other is due to having low and even bad quality water supply due to pollution. And what is happening in Malaysia, and in Sabah, generally, is the latter.
“The problem with most Asian region and also in Malaysia, I think, is the quality problem. You put sewerage in your water,” he said.