KUCHING, Oct 5 — Sarawak DAP today threatened to launch an online campaign against a Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblyman and the ruling party’s entire state chapter if they fail to solve the water woes faced by Kampung Sangai Impani’s 100 families within two days.
State DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen said his party will also file a formal complaint with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR).
“I am giving Ben and the Barisan the ultimatum to show how serious we are in trying to help the villagers,” he said, referring to Martin Ben, the BN lawmaker for Kedup.
Chong, who is also the Bandar Kuching MP, said denying these villagers access to water is a violation of a fundamental human right.
The problems faced by the Serian district village, he added, could have been resolved much earlier if the Health Ministry had allowed the DAP-sponsored Impian Malaysia project to connect a set of pipes from the newly-built mini Sangai River dam to the main pipe that distributes water to all the households.
Chong refused to accept Ben’s explanation that Impian Malaysia had not obtained prior approval from the ministry to connect the pipes to the main water distribution system.
He said asking prior permission from the ministry is “less important” as the key concern is first to supply water to the village.
He said because of poor planning, the previous dam built by the Health Ministry in 2013 does not provide the village with sufficient water, especially during the dry season.
“As a result, despite there being pipes to every household, the villagers are forced to collect water from the nearby river,” he added.
Last Saturday, Ben chided Impian Malaysia for failing to discuss with the Serian district health office when trying to connect the pipes from the mini-dam to the distribution system belonging to the Health Ministry.
Impian Malaysia had built the mini-dam on Sangai River early last month at a cost of less than RM50,000 to supply untreated water to the village.
However, Serian district health officer Dr Sharifah Norashikin Wan Ahmad, in a letter dated August 28 this year, did not allow Impian Malaysia to connect the pipes from the mini-dam to the main pipe.
She added, however, the health office would not object to Impian Malaysia building another distribution system.
Serian DAP branch chairman Edward Andrew Luak had then alleged that health officer was under political pressure to disallow Impian Malaysia to connect the pipes to the system.
