Villagers cook with weed-killer contaminated water from ditches

Villagers cook with weed-killer contaminated water from ditches

More than 20 people from five households in Kampung Sungai Rotan Dalam have to rely on water from ditches for their daily usage as their village has not been supplied with clean water all this while.

More than 20 people from five households in Kampung Sungai Rotan Dalam have to rely on water from ditches for their daily usage as their village has not been supplied with clean water all this while.

One of them, Abdul Amor Bakar, 54, said he and his family had been collecting water from ditches despite knowing that the cleanliness of the water was not guaranteed.

“There’s no piped water in the village and we’ve been using water from the ditches for our daily activities such as bathing, cooking and even laundry,” he told reporters when met at his house today.  Abdul Amor, who has been staying in the village for almost 46 years, said the water was murky and believed to have been contaminated with poisonous substances.

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He claimed that the discharge from a fertilliser company nearby as well as weed killer chemicals had something to do with it.

“We know that the water is unclean but we don’t have any choice. Luckily nothing unfortunate has happened to our family so far, but how long can we put up with it,” he wondered.

Sabudin Mustafa, 50, said they had lodged complaints and submitted applications to the authorities for clean water supply but no response was received.

He said the ditches would overflow with water when it rained.

Sabudin also said the village lacked infrastructure such as tarred roads and street lights.

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Meanwhile, Gurun state assemblyman Leong Yong Kong said he had been informed that the villagers would apply for clean water supply from the Bukit Selambau district health department.  He said he would assist the villagers to install water pipes.

– Bernama