'No water shortage if not for the illegals'
Published on: Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Pergerakkan Pemantau Sukarelawan Penampang (Pantau Penampang), a community movement from Penampang, expressed its disappointment with the insistence by the State's Infrastructure Minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan to proceed with the controversial Kaiduan Dam project."We are perplexed with the insistence by Pairin because by his own admission, he had yet to visit Kampung Buayan and the rest of the affected villages and meet the villagers there," said its president, Jo Nandu.He said normally, before the announcement of any State or governmental projects in Sabah, the relevant Minister will visit the proposed site and receive full briefing by the project's consultant.
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This actually serves to ensure that the Minister fully understood the nature of the proposed project before the commencement so as to avoid any liability or wastage of funds on the part of the Government."So how could Pairin insist to have a magnanimous project worth billions of ringgit to kick off when he had yet to visit the villagers at the proposed dam site?" he asked."How could he merely depend on the consultant's report who briefed him in the comfort of his office? "Nandu hoped Pairin would visit the proposed site as soon as possible and hold a dialogue session with the villagers with the aim of not only to inform them the necessity of the dam but also to listen to their arguments.
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"Pantau Penampang also believes that until the State Government settles the Non Revenue Water (NRW) issue and successfully reduced water-wastage at satisfactory level, Kaiduan Dam will continue to face objection from the Penampang folks."How could the Government justify the need to build a mega dam to meet the water shortage in the State when the shortage itself is attributable to the Government's inefficiency in managing our water?
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"Thus, even if we have 10 Kaiduan dams, the State Government will still be insisting for the 11th dam simply because they are inefficient in managing our resources, " he said.At the same time, the existence of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in the West Coast of Sabah also contributed to the water shortage, he claimed."I do not know the exact amount of illegal immigrants in the West Coast but I do know that they also uses the water from the Babagon Dam," he added.Pantau Penampang also recommended to the State Government to look into other viable alternative sites that would not affect any villagers."Sabah is such a big state and there may exist hundreds of uninhabited valleys with rivers that are perfect to build a dam."Why is it so hard for the State Government to find another viable site when it is very easy for them to give out thousand acres of State's forest lands to big corporations from Malaya?" he asked.Nandu also requested the State Government to quickly deliver clean treated water to villagers in Kampung Babagon and the surrounding villages."If the State Government is unable to act efficiently and effectively with the water crisis woes which is currently happening in Upper Moyog, what makes them so sure that having a Kaiduan Dam will solve their inefficiency?The water crisis in Upper Moyog is so severe that villagers are now forced to carry water from the polluted Moyog River for drinking and cleaning purposes.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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