CLEAN water is but a pipe dream for some remote villages in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, because they are not covered by Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd (AKSB), said an official from the district health department.

Dr Mohd Hafiz Che Ismail, an epidemiologist in Kuala Krai district health department, told The Malaysian Insight that certain areas in the interior of Kuala Krai are not covered by AKSB, thus depriving these villages of treated water.

AKSB, a company under Menteri Besar Incorporated Kelantan, is tasked with processing, treating and supplying water to the PAS-led state.

“Our water supply is from AKSB. However, some areas in the interiors are not covered by the company because the amount of treated water available is not sufficient to service all households,” he said at the sidelines of the WASH programme organised by Mercy Malaysia in Kg Sungai Tias recently.

WASH is a water, sanitation and hygiene project by Mercy Malaysia that focuses on safe water strategies. This includes building alternative water systems, toilets and distribution of hygiene kits in remote villages in Kuala Krai.

“Not all places are covered. There are certain residents who are supported by gravity feed systems (GFS) instead,” he said, adding that not all villagers have access to GFS.

The health department said it is working with civil society bodies, such as Mercy Malaysia, to build alternative water supply systems such as GFS and tube wells in far-flung villages, after realising the lack of clean water in these areas.

AKSB previously said drought and pollution had forced the state to rely on alternative water systems.

In addition, it attributed the problem to a lack of funding from the federal government to improve the water supply system in the state.

However, Hafiz declined to comment when asked if enough efforts have been deployed by the state government to address this problem.

Nevertheless, sources told The Malaysian Insight that local representatives (assemblymen) have privately funded GFS in their areas because the state government has not lifted a finger.

A recent visit to Kg Sungai Tias, 40km from Kuala Krai town revealed that villagers have been, until recently, drinking murky water from a shallow well defiled with animal carcasses and rubbish.

For decades, these wells were their primary source of water.

When drought hits, the wells dry up, forcing villagers to rely on mineral water or from the nearby river for drinking and running household chores.

Fed up with the state government, villagers in Kg Sungai Tias relied on Mercy Malaysia to build tube wells, with funding provided by Maybank Islamic under a two-year programme.

The village now has access to clean water.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr A. Xavier Jayakumar said last September that Kelantan was among three states – apart from Sabah and Sarawak – where lack of access to clean water sources had reached critical levels.

Kelantan is also the largest user of groundwater, accounting for more than 80% of the country’s domestic and industry consumption.

There are some 21 GFS and 119 tube wells in the state.

Data from the ministry on water population served from 2014-2016, shows that only about 60% of Kelantan’s water needs have been met. – June 20, 2019.