Clean piped water thanks to Raleigh Borneo team

KOTA KINABALU: About 200 children now have water from taps and in toilets at their remote primary school in northern Sabah.

This is thanks to the hard work of local and foreign youths over the last six weeks to build a gravity-feed water system.

The Raleigh Borneo team used a natural source to bring water to Sekolah Rendah Pinapak in Pitas, an effort which saw them building a dam, putting up two 400-litre tanks and installing two kilometres of pipes through the jungle.

The project is a partnership involving Raleigh, local community organisation Pacos Trust and Sabah-based Asian Forestry Company (AFC).

The Raleigh Borneo volunteers who spent six

weeks building the gravity-feed water system.

It is also to help the people in Kampung Pinapak and Maliau Pusat as water taps have been fixed in the two villages.

Raleigh Borneo country director Jim Clements thanked AFC for its support and hoped there would be more projects that help communities in remote places.

"The people of Pinapak now have constant and clean water supply.

"Our volunteers, too, have learned a great deal about their culture and way of life after living and working in Sabah," he said at the opening of the gravity-feed water system on Thursday.

AFC managing director Graeme Brown said access to clean water was a priority for villagers who made this clear at a meeting half a year ago.

"By working with the community and our partners, hundreds of people have gained as part of our overall community development programme for the region," Brown said.

The company is also planting fruit trees close to where the source of the gravity feed is located to conserve it and to educate communities on the need to protect water sources.


Source of Article: New Straits Times