Kampung Nanga Besar a desert

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NO OTHER OPTIONS: Mohmed and three village girls show the ditch where they take their bath every day.

COMPLETELY DRY: Buana Salem, 46, who was born and raised in Kampung Nanga Besar shows a dry tap in the village.

FRUSTRATED: Mohmed Aris and everyone in Kampung Nanga Besar have been on dry land for the last four years. It happened when an oil palm plantation was established near their village.

TOUGH LIFE: Kam Sabar does not drink nor cook when there is no rain.

DARO: There are water taps in Kampung Nanga Besar here, but the 200 odd families living there have left it turned off – since 2009.

“Since the establishment of an oil palm plantation near here four years ago, not even a drop of water has come out from our tap.

“Before that, water supply was normal,” said villager Mohmed Aris, 52, yesterday.

He told the BAT III team members everyone in the village had to scoop salty and dark-brown water from Sungai Nanga for their daily use, including bathing, over the last four years.

“The water makes us itchy after every bath. But we have no other alternative because water from the ground is equally bad,” fumed Mohmed.

Fellow villager Kam Kabar, 73, wailed that she used only rainwater for cooking.

“If there is no rain, then I don’t cook nor drink. How can I, at my age, go down there (pointing to a road junction) to fetch water from water tankers?” asked Kam.

This Melanau village is located about 20km from Daro town, and it seats on a peat swamp area.

Their water woes can be felt by just walking on the village road as stench from the open sewerage is unmistakable.

“Life is really tough for us here. We really hope the day will come when we open our tap there is water coming out of it,” said Kam.

Mohmed’s 21-year-old son Fazil Mohmed, 21, was repairing his motorcycle in front of his house when we met up with him. Frustration and anger lined his face.

“I was a youth when the water stopped coming. Now, I have grown up, but there is still no water?” Fazil thundered.

Daro District Officer Shafie Ahmad, when contacted, admitted he was aware of the problem.

He said it pained him to see the people of Kampung Nanga Besar suffer.

“The problem is water to Kampung Ng Besar is from Matu, not Daro. Before the water reaches here, they are all used up by the oil palm plantation.

“The water supply from Matu is clearly not enough to meet the demand of both the villagers and plantation.”

Shafie said construction of a new water treatment plant at Jemoreng was supposed to be completed by the end of last year, but it didn’t.

“The project has been delayed,” said Shafie.