KUCHING, Jan 14: The exclusive commentary by DayakDaily revealing the dismal circumstances surrounding the failure of the Life Saver M1 tanks implementation throughout the state has drawn swift condemnation from Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri James Masing.
He said he was ‘very disappointed’ with the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development under its then minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, for giving faulty products to the rural polulation.
“At the cost of RM41,000 per unit, the yellow tank scheme was a farce! The seller himself admitted that these tanks are not practical for the use of rural folks.
“Dr. Rajiv Bhanot has two choices: either he makes good on the fault of his yellow tanks, or he takes these tanks away because they occupy unnecessary space.
“I urge the Malaysian government to be more wary of such inventions and products. PRU14 is just round the corner so we must not get bitten twice!” said Masing who also chairs the state Cabinet Committee for Rural Transformation.
Meanwhile, the DayakDaily also reached out to Simunjan District Penghulu Pelie Jumbu who confirmed the said tanks were ill-suited for use by the villages in his district.
“It seems that they never did their research first because the tanks are not suitable for our villages of about 188 homes.
“When the filter got clogged up or damaged, we didn’t know how to repair them or who to contact to repair them. The tanks in our villages source water from mountain streams, so such as during this rainy season, the water will be full of silt and debris, so that would clog up the filters even more.”
He also said that each village only had one tank and that not all villages received the tanks. He also did not know how many villages eventually received the tanks.
“The tanks were placed near the tuai rumah’s house. So it is inconvenient for villagers to walk with pails all the way to the tuai rumah’s house just to fetch water. I hope that the government can think of better ways next time,” he added.
Members of the public are welcome to share their photos of the yellow tanks, location, date and condition of the tanks on our official Facebook page (@DayakDaily). — DayakDaily
