JAKOA denies claims of not providing clean water for Orang Asli villages in Gua Musang

KOTA BHARU, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- The Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA) denied claims that the water issue in Gua Musang involving Orang Asli villages was caused by the department's failure to maintain the provided water treatment system.

Its director-general, Datuk Sapiah Mohd Nor said that as many as 109 Orang Asli villages in Gua Musang have water supply systems, with three villages using the tap water system, 16 using tubewells or borings (underground water) and 90 using gravity (rivers).

"Under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), a total of RM25 million has been allocated for new construction works and repairs to the water treatment systems, while RM5 million has been spent on maintenance contracts,” he said in a statement today.

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"The issue of water supply to the Orang Asli villages is caused by limited water sources as well as polluted water sources. This problem does not only happen in the Orang Asli villages but also in Malay communities and nearby villages."

According to him, this happened due to the lack of catchment areas that can channel water to the surrounding areas due to uncontrolled logging and plantation activities and the lack of control over water pollution in Sungai Kelantan.

However, he said the JAKOA strives to provide other alternatives to obtain a source of water supply for the Orang Asli community of Gua Musang by developing borings through strategic collaboration with related agencies such as the Department of Minerals and Geoscience (JMG) and local universities.

Recently, Perikatan Nasional (PN) operations director for the Nenggiri by-election Tan Sri Annuar Musa claimed that allocations for the provision of clean water supply in the Orang Asli villages were channelled through JAKOA.

Annuar also denied the water problem that plagued the Orang Asli population was due to the failure of the state government to solve it.

-- BERNAMA