Elephant herd destroys water tanks and piping at Orang Asli village

GUA MUSANG, Nov 3 -- More than 300 Orang Asli from the Batek tribe in Kampung Aring 5 here had their piped water supply destroyed by a herd of wild elephants, sometime between 11pm last night and early this morning.

According to village leader Rina Anjang, 47, the elephants destroyed not only three water tanks but also the piping that connects to a water catchment up a nearby hill.

Villagers were alerted to the incident at about 6am when they found their water supply had been cut, prompting some of them to check on the water catchment area located about three kilometres from the village and requiring an hour's journey by foot.

Upon reaching the area, they found that the water pipes had been stamped on and were scattered, said Rina, adding that the elephants were still in the vicinity but had retreated into the nearby jungles when they heard the villagers.

The leader told reporters when met at the scene today that the matter of restoring the water supply would be submitted to the Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA), as villagers did not have the money to cover the repairs which would be costly.

In the meantime, villagers will be forced to rely on river water although they were unsure of its cleanliness, said villager Husin Selik, 61, who also observed that this was the first time the elephants had destroyed their water supply - previously, the elephants had merely destroyed banana trees and other plants grown by the villagers.

-- BERNAMA