Padang Serai MP M Karuppaiya said authorities are doing the best they can to help the 70 families in Padang Meha, Kedah who have been left without piped water since Sept 25.
However, he admits that bringing water in by lorry is only a temporary solution and there needs to be a break in the impasse between workers dwelling on the land and those who have cut their water.
"We supply water by lorry every day. As Padang Serai MP I have talked to Sada (Syarikat Air Darul Aman) to fix the pipe for water supply but the owner who brought the land has refused to give the authority to do so," he told Malaysiakini.
"I hope the top level can handle the situation," he said, adding his voice to the calls for Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir to intervene.
It is believed that the root of the problem is that the families are awaiting compensation from MBF Holdings and its subsidiary Vintage Developers Sdn Bhd.
They won a landmark Court of Appeals decision on April 4 for a RM3.3million award based on a 1995 settlement agreement.
The settlement is between East Asiatic Company (M) Sdn Bhd and MBF Holdings Bhd and the former workers of the Padang Meha Hup Seng Estate are entitled to termination, layoff, ex-gratia and housing benefits.
The payment was supposed to have been made within three months of the Court of Appeals decision, but the workers' lawyer Ranjan Chandran said MBF has filed a leave application to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal decision.
MBF is claiming that the workers have ceased to pay their bills which is why the piped water supply has been cut.
Residents who had hoped that the Appeals Court decision would bring an end to a 24-year battle are now distraught at the thought of spending Deepavali without water. - Mkini
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