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Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Good news indeed. It seems after talking to the estate management in recent times, the state has been able to proceed with laying pipes and providing treated water to the families living in the estate. Not sure why the engagement never happened before.
FORTY-SIX families living in Ulu Sawah Estate in Rantau near Seremban have expressed gratitude to the state administration for providing treated water by Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan (SAINS) supplied to their homes, thus ending a seven-decade wait for clean water.
The families, who had been relying on processed river water provided by the management all these while for all their necessities, said they would no longer have to worry about water disruptions, particularly during the prolonged dry weather.
P. Gemini Dass, 48, who has been living in the estate for the past four decades, thanked Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan for keeping his promise to provide the estate folks with a consistent supply of treated water.
Overjoyed: Ulu Sawah estate folk expressing their gratitude to Mohamad for keeping his promise to provide treated water by Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan to their homes.“Although we are located so close to Seremban, we never had access to treated water supply as we were located inside the estate. Today, we will be assured that our taps won’t run dry irrespective of the time of the day,” said the father of three.
Housewife A. Kamalam 56, was also lost for words when she saw lorries unloading huge pipes to be laid in the estate.
“My eight children will no longer have to worry if there is enough water for them to take their showers or do other chores,” said Kamalam.
Kg Kuala Sawah Village Development and Security committee chairman Ab Mutalib Sulaiman, 47, said there had been occasions when the estate folks had to do without water due to a combination of factors.
“The Mentri Besar was surprised when told that there were still some families who did not have access to piped water. He then visited the estate folks and pledged to look into their problem as soon as possible,” he said.
The affected families recently held a gathering to thank Mohamad for keeping his promise.
Mohamad, who is also Rantau assemblyman, said the estate was among eight that would receive treated water supply under phase one of a project to ensure all residents in the state had access to clean water.
“Several more estates have benefitted from this programme under the first phase. By the time the third phase is completed, all residents in the state will already have access to clean water,” he said adding that at present, there were only some Orang Asli families and those living in faraway places who did not have piped water supply.
Mohamad said there was no reason why the estate folks should not benefit from such government projects especially when they contributed significantly to the nation’s economy and wellbeing.
“The government has already introduced the minimum wage scheme for all workers and this will also benefit estate workers who had long been complaining of insufficient wages,” he said.
He said the state authorities could not do much to provide treated water to the estates previously as it could not trespass estate land to lay the pipes.
“But we engaged the estate owners this time around and they agreed to work with us for the benefit of the estate workers,” he added.
Mohamad also thanked the Federal government for the allocation given for the project through the Human Resources Ministry.
source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/10/6/central/12127252&sec=central
