SANDAKAN – Some 150,000 residents in Papar district, Sabah, are grappling with the impacts of a severe drought, which has adversely affected 93 padi farmers and their crops due to the intense heat.
In a statement today, Papar district disaster management committee chairman, Mohd Fuad Abdullah, said the drought had ravaged 42 villages, seven schools, seven residential areas and three religious sites in the district.
Fuad, who is also Papar district officer, said over 84ha of padi fields had been affected in the Limbahau and Biau Padawan areas.
Papar, a west-coast district situated 37km from Kota Kinabalu, was declared a drought-disaster area by the Papar district disaster management committee last Wednesday.
This decision was made in light of the closure of the Limbahau water treatment plant in mid-February due to saline intrusion, impacting over 50,000 consumers in Papar.
Fuad has assured that the committee is swiftly executing plans to provide clean water according to schedule in areas such as SK Pantai Manis, Kg Timbangan, Palm Condominium and the Kg Limbahau church.
To facilitate this, a 20,000L tanker, eight 10,000L tankers and eight lorries have been deployed to distribute water in affected regions.
Meanwhile, Fuad said the Papar Fire and Rescue Department had reported 10 cases of bush fires in the district from March 9 to date.
“In terms of fire prevention, the Sabah Information Department has been conducting the Info on Wheels programme in Kg Berundong, Kg Bambangan and Kg Beringgis.
“The Sabah government remains alert and will continue to monitor the drought situation to ensure that the situation is under control,” he said.
Fuad added that the disaster operation control centre had been activated for 24 hours at the Papar district administrative building, which can be contacted at 088-914-999.
A total of 961 cases of forest, bush and farm-crop fires have been reported in Sabah from January 1 to March 14 this year due to the hot and dry weather.
The Sabah Health Department has also reported two cases of heat exhaustion, both in Beaufort, during this period. – March 15, 2024