Water woes for Orang Asli villagers in Tasik Chini

 

The Orang Asli villagers living near Tasik Chini in Pekan, Pahang are facing water woes despite residing right next to the second largest natural freshwater lake in Peninsular Malaysia.

With the once crystal-clear lake now being deemed unsafe for consumption due to pollution in recent years, they now also have to endure a shortage of clean tap water supply.

Several villagers at Kampung Gumum and Ulu Gumum told Malaysiakini that the problem has been ongoing for at least the past three years.

Some of them could still receive tap water from time to time depending on water pressure, but those who live uphill were said to have it worse.

One of them is Adelina Abdullah, a 49-year-old rubber tapper.

"My house is on the hilly side of the village. Most of the time, water does not reach my house, and this has been my problem for the past three years.

"I only get tap water sometimes but even then, it was for a very short while," said Adelina.

Adelina said her family had resorted to utilising an old well nearby. It was the same case for many other villagers who live near old wells, Malaysiakini learned.

Fortunately for Adelina, her daughter and son-in-law would sometimes bring water from their house located in the lower part of Kampung Gumum.

Adelina noted that the state water company Pengurusan Air Pahang Berhad (Paip) would also send their water tankers from time to time. However, this was not enough for all the villagers, Adelina said.

Asked why they did not take water from Tasik Chini, the mother of four said it had been quite some time since villagers stopped using the lake water for personal use.

"How can we use the lake water? It is filthy. I was born here, and when I was growing up, Tasik Chini was our main water source for cooking and bathing, and we could even drink the water directly from the lake.

"But now, our skin will become itchy if we use the water," she claimed.

Another villager, Joye Ismail, also shared a similar sentiment, saying that the water woes had been a bane to the people.

Villager Joye Ismail

While his situation was not as worse as Adelina's, Joye said the on-and-off water supply made life hard.

"We need tap water to go about our daily life. But here, water pressure has been an issue for many years. Most of the time, there would be water for an hour or less, and then off for another hour, and so on.

"When the pressure was very low, we could not even wash our clothes," he told Malaysiakini.

Joye claimed that Paip would send their water tankers only when villagers complain, but they want a long-term solution.

Complaints from other villages

Chini state assemblyperson Mohd Sharim Md Zain, when contacted, said the matter had been brought to the Pahang state government’s attention.

Besides Kampung Gumum and Ulu Gumum, Sharim said he has received similar complaints from several other villagers and Felda settlements in Chini.

"This matter has received the attention of Pahang menteri besar too, who had come down to visit Chini and several other districts in the state which are also facing water supply issues.

"I have also brought this matter to the management of Paip for action," he told Malaysiakini.

Paip manager for the Pekan area Muhamad Faiz Abu Zaki, when contacted, said the problem faced by Kampung Gumum and Ulu Gumum was caused by an old pipe issue, which led to pipe bursts.

There had also been cases where Paip's water pumps and cables were stolen, he said.

"We have planned to replace the old pipes. The budget for this has been included in our annual expenditure, and I am working to get this done by this year.

"For the time being, we have deployed static tanks for Kampung Gumum villagers to use," said Faiz. - Mkini