Approximately 500 Tamil families who are residents of Langkawi’s Sungai Raya have been facing water obstructions for the past 2 years. The lack of proper water supply has caused great upheavals in the lives of these families, where children and adults’ alike are facing immense difficulties in completing their daily tasks. The residents have been fighting for the right to a clean and efficient water supply to their residence for the past two years without any solution at sight.
The residents state that SADA (Syarikat Air Darul Aman) Sdn Bhd, Kedah’s water distribution company, has not paid any attention to their complaints and is instead delaying any form of proper addressing of the issue. Due to the prolonged state of distress the people have lived in and without any form of action on the government’s end, the frustrated residents went before the office of SADA in Kuah to give another proper report on their grievances, with the hopes that the problem will be swiftly solved soon.
Since the pandemic in 2021 until now, there have been many water disruptions multiple times in a week that happened without any prior warnings in Sungai Raya. In the report given to the SADA authorities, the Tamil residents also expressed the extreme difficulties these water disruptions have caused them, with some not being able to work and even children’s education being entirely disrupted due to this problem. When asked for a reason why these water disruptions are happening, the authorities responded that it was due to the pipes bursting because of the water pressure. The Tamil residents stated that this was the same reason provided to them two years ago when they asked for the cause of the water disruption.
As reported by ThisaigalTV Malaysia, the Tamil residents share their pain and grievances over how horribly this water disruption has affected their lives and livelihoods. One resident named Kannagi expresses her anguish about how the lack of water supply makes it incredibly difficult to send their children to school and to do basic domestic labour, like cooking and cleaning. She shares how, since she cannot use the washing machine at home, she is forced to spend money at the laundry mat, something that poses a great financial burden to them. Another resident angrily shares how this water disruption is only occurring in areas with high populations of Tamils, like Sungai Raya, Belanga Pechah, and Kampung Teluk. On a positive note, another resident bravely shared that he hopes that the Tamil people will come together to fight for their rights till the very end.
Source: Thisaigal TV Malaysia
