PITAS: About 200 families in five villages here are now benefitting from clean and regular water supply following the installation of water supply systems under the Yayasan Petronas’ Program Memampankan Ekonomi Asas Rakyat (MEKAR) which aims to improve the well-being of B40 (lower income) communities.
Yayasan Petronas Chief Executive Officer Shariah Nelly Francis said the villages are Kampung Boribi Kanibongan, Kampung Gunsali, Kampung Mapad Kanibongan, Kampung Ranggal and Kampung Mangkapon Darat which are about four hours drive from Kota Kinabalu.
She said the supply of water utilises a gravity-fed system as well as solar-powered water pumps and also comprise water catchments, pipes, pump houses, water filters, main storage tanks and collection points.
“We hope that the local communities will be able to enjoy a consistent supply of clean water that is now available to them especially during the dry season,” she said in a statement here today.
Shariah Nelly said the project implemented over a period of 18 months involved the provision of a clean water supply system that is easy to access, simple to operate and safer than, for instance, trekking uneven terrain to a water source such as rivers.
The project supported by Petronas Sabah and Labuan also involves the Pitas district office, village development and security committees (JPKK), village heads and contractors from the beneficiary villages as well as KLCC Projeks Sdn Bhd as the technical advisor and Tonibung as the implementation partner.
“We hope that the villagers will work together to maintain this system so that it can remain functional in the long term,” Shariah Nelly said.
A handover ceremony was recently held at Kampung Mangkapon Darat officiated by state Minister of Rural Development Datuk Jahid Jahim.
The ceremony also included a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activity, in which students from the villages led by four Program Duta Guru (PDG) teachers, learnt to assemble mini race cars using simple materials such as balloons, water bottles, and bottle caps.
PDG is Yayasan Petronas’ signature programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, through Pusat STEM Negara, under its education focus area.
PDG aims to upskill 4,500 teachers nationwide in higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) to serve as role models in the delivery of STEM subjects to students.
Both programmes are in line with the Petronas Sustainability Agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. – BERNAMA
