HENRYNUS…A private company applied a 400-acre land in the Class 1 Forest Reserves in Bukit Hampuan Ranau.
RANAU – Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri (ANAK NEGERI) has urged the Ranau District Officer (DO) to immediately stop the processing all land applications involving water catchment areas for gravity pipes supplying water to villagers residing in Ranau proper until there is a proper consultation and engagement with affected communities.
It’s President, Datuk Henrynus Amin, who is also former Member of Parliament for Kinabalu (now Ranau) said he received information, or rather, a public complaint regarding the land application by a private company involving a 400-acre land in the Class 1 Forest Reserves in Bukit Hampuan Ranau.
He said based on the information received and verified, the local villagers in Ranau strongly objected to the land application because the area applied for is a water catchment area for gravity pipes supplying water to the local residents in Kg Sinarut, Kg Lasing, Kg Rapak, Kg Tagudon and Kg Kilimu Ranau.
“We have confirmed the validity of the protest letter addressed to one of the State Cabinet Ministers written by a village community leader,” he said.
“ANAK NEGERI therefore wishes to highlight the issue in support of the people in Ranau as it is a matter of public interest,” said Henrynus in a statement today.
For that matter, he said, ANAK NEGERI seeks answers from the Paginatan State Assemblyman Datuk Abidin Madingkir whether or not he knew about the village objection to the said land application.
He said the land area applied for and all the affected villages are within the Paginatan State constituency.
Henrynus asked what action has been taken by his office to address the problem and protect the interest of affected local communities.
Further, he said, ANAK NEGERI seeks confirmation from the Ranau District Officer, the Land Surveyor Officer or the Ranau District Revenue Collector whether or not the company’s land application has been approved by the Ranau District Land Utilization Committee (LUC).
He said local residence in Ranau proper (or Tana Rata) are depedent on gravity pipe to get unpolluted drinking water and therefore any disruption to their gravity pipe water supply due to the clearing of water catchment areas cannot be tolerated.
For the record, Ranau residents in Ranau proper have been consuming polluted drinking water for the past 40 years supplied by the government from the Ranau water treatment plant.
“I remember a former Director of Water Department once commented in a jest that the water supply from the government water treatment plant in Ranau is the dirtiest and most polluted.”
He said, “This explains why water from government pipes is always muddy and cloudy.”
The people in Ranau knew water supplied by the government pipes are polluted or contaminated with agriculture wastes such as chemical fertilizers and poisons used in vegetable gardens in Ulu Sungai Bambangan and also Sungai Liwagu.”
“Due to doubt about safety, local residence in Ranau proper only use the government’s tap water to bathe, wash clothes and plates, but they prefer to use water from gravity pipes for drinking and cooking food.”
He said as a safety measure, many families in Ranau buy and use bottled drinking water for drinking and cooking foods.”
Meanwhile, he said, the completion of the raw water intake from Sg Nakamura would not solve the problem of polluted water supply to the local residents in Ranau proper.
“The water treatment plant from Sg Nakamura located near SMK Agama Lohan supplies water only to the Lohan valley while the Ranau valley still receives polluted water from Sg Bambangan and Sg Liwagu.”
