KUCHING, Oct 7 — Kedup assemblyman Martin Ben said it is ridiculous to ask him and the State Barisan Nasional to solve the water problem faced by the Kampung Sangai Empani in Serian district, which he blamed on the DAP-sponsored Impian Malaysia that built a mini-dam without consulting the Health Department.

“Why should we solve the problem for them? It is their fault,” he said when responding to a threat by Sarawak DAP to launch an online campaign against him and the State Barisan if they failed to solve the water problem faced by the village’s 100 families by tomorrow.

Ben said the mini-dam, meant to supply fresh river water to the village, did not have a system to filter debris and other objects from going inside the pipes.

“It is an open dam... anything will go inside the pipes at the dam. If the health office allows the pipes from this dam to be connected to the existing main pipe belonging to the Health Department, the debris and other hard objects will block the small pipes that go to every households,” he explained.

He said blocked pipes will cause damage to the distribution system.

“It is for this reason that the Serian Health Office does not allow the Sarawak DAP-sponsored Impian Malaysia to connect a set of pipes from their mini-dam to the distribution system,” he said.

He said there is nothing political about the health office refusing the connection, but Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen turned it into a political issue.

Ben said Sarawak DAP, for reasons best known to themselves, by-passed the Serian Health Office and started building the mini-dam on a nearby Sangai River.

He said a mini-dam on Singok River built by the Health Ministry in 2013 is equipped with a filtering system while the Impian Malaysia’s built mini-dam on Sangai River does not.

Last Monday, Chong, who is also Bandar Kuching federal lawmaker, had threatened to launch an online campaign against Ben and the State Barisan if they failed to solve the water woes faced by the villagers of Kampung Sangai Empani within two days.

He had said the Sarawak DAP would also file a formal complaint with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR) for denying these villagers access to water, saying that it was a violation of a fundamental human right.