IN THE Budget 2013, a sum of
RM 100 million is allocated to Sabah and Sarawak to supply 40,000 plastic water
tanks for the rural districts to harvest the rain water. This works out to be
RM2,500 per tank.
This big amount raised a lot
of doubts towards the real cost of the plastic water tanks. A quick check on the
prices in the Sabah market, a water tank similar to the 1-Malaysia water tank
is costing around RM500, plus transportation cost and reasonable profit, it
should not be that expensive. Now this shows 5 times the cost, and there should
be an explanation towards this high cost.
The kampong folks need to
use the water tanks to harvest the rain water, but the question is why until
today the clean treated water supply in the rural district are still not
available. In many rural districts and even in the sub-urban areas in Sabah
there are still no water supply and even though there are pipes, water tanks
and reservoirs, but there is no water.
The KKMP Hiew King Cheu said
by giving them the water tanks is not a long term solution to the problem.
There is a need of clean treated water to the rural district. What is the use
of the tanks when there is a long draught season, or even one week with no
rain, the people will suffer the same.
The problem of rain water
collected and stored in water tank usually is not that clean, and it is common
that mosquitoes start to breed in the water. The dirt from the roof can also
end up in the tank, and the water can be contaminated.
Therefore, it is important
to get the treated clean water to the rural district to ensure good health for
our rural folks, and no more delay.
No comments:
Post a Comment