27/05/2011 (The Star) - far too long, the people of several longhouses in Machan area near Kanowit have been living without treated water.

They depend a lot on rain water which they harvest each time it rains.

Their other sources of water are the streams near their longhouses.

During droughts, they try to conserve water by bathing once in three days in the streams.

Gathering facts: A villager (with cap) telling Chen that their water is from this dirty stream.

Lanang PKR chairman George Chen was recently invited to their longhouses and he could not believe how terrible the situation was.

Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, Chen said the stream was heavily polluted by effluent from commercial oil palm plantation, banana farms and other agricultural activities.

“There has been rampant use of chemical fertilisers, insecticides and herbicides by the plantation operators. Thus the streams are badly polluted.”

Chen said the villagers also told him that water from the stream had resulted in a number of children developing diseases such as meliodosis and leptospirosis which caused their bodies to itch.

During this dry season, he said, the water level in the streams was significantly low, which reduced their water supply.

Some of the villagers were forced to buy drinking water from town, using public transport for the purpose and thus increasing their financial burden, he said.

With the Gawai Dayak just round the corner, he said, the people were in the urgent need of treated water.

He said since the 1990’s, the villagers had voiced out their problems to the authorities concerned but nothing had been done until now.

Chen said he had assisted more than 40 villagers to get help from the Health Ministry, Public Works Department and District Office to send water, including large plastic containers for collecting rain water.

He hoped the authorities would respond as soon as possible.