By DayakDaily
SERIAN, April 30: Four villages in Balai Ringin here have improved water supply access thanks to a three-year project undertaken by Japan-Malaysia Association (JMA) in collaboration with the Sarawak government.
Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP) and Balai Ringin assemblyman Dato Snowdan Lawan said the project in the villages near Sabal National Park had commenced from April 2021 until March 2024.
It involved Kampung Sabal Kruin Baru, Kampung Sabal Kruin Lama, Kampung Sabal Keruin Tengah and Kampung Nyalitak.
“The project has significantly improved water consumption in the village, eliminating the need to purchase water even during the dry season, and has also greatly improved hygiene, as people can bathe, wash their toilet, clothes and tableware whenever they want,” he said in his speech during the opening ceremony for Michinoeki Sabal Market in Kampung Sabal Kruin recently.
Snowdan said a new nursery was also built as part of the same project in the Sabal Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Centre in 2022, where tree seedlings are grown to plant for conservation of the village’s water catchment areas.
This nursery plot continues to be used as a work place for villagers after the project, in cooperation with Forest Department of Sarawak (FDS) and Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC)
“Environment and hygiene education programmes were conducted for local primary school children to share importance of water conservation in their water catchment areas in the forests.
“At the end of the first phase of the project, a roadside station ‘Michinoeki Sabal Market’ was built for the welfare of the community in the end of March 2024,” he added.
He also said the second phase of the project has already started this month (April) at Kampung Sungai Acheh and Kampung Sabal Tapan.
Amongst those present were Sri Aman MP Dato Sri Doris Sophia Brodie; Japanese Government representative in Malaysia, Yoshito Yamashita; JMA president Takakazu Ogawa; JMA Coordinator in Sarawak, Kazue Sakai; Serian District Officer Inting Nyami; and SFC regional manager Asralaihi Julaihi. — DayakDaily
