Teacher’s innovative dam project saves the day
Councillor Bakat points to the frontage of SMK Balleh.
Speedy Bena Albert Luna
Wilson
(right) points to the new coffer dam. Looking on are (from left)
teacher Casey John, Manggai, Councillor Bakat and PRS Balleh member
David Sanggau.
KAPIT: The innovative idea of a teacher at SMK Balleh, Wilson William, 27, has saved the school from running out of clean treated water.
About two weeks ago, he went to see the principal Speedy Bena Albert Luna with his proposal to build a small dam at Sungai Sekara, about a 25-minute walk from the school.
“When the principal said yes, he quickly mobilised the teachers and students to carry out the project on a ‘gotong-royong’ (work party) basis.
“The principal approved a grant of RM500 from the school’s parents-teachers association (PTA) fund and we managed to complete the project in two days, about a week ago,” Wilson told BAT 5 at the school yesterday, which is about two hours’ boat-ride from here.
He was beaming with pride when asked what had prompted him to come up with the innovative idea.
“It’s due to our needs that I came out with the idea and I am used to this kind of situation as I also come from rural Pakan,” Wilson said.
He said if the dam had not been built on time, the school would have run out of treated water by now.“With raw water from the new dam, it is then pumped to the water treatment plant for processing to ensure that we have clean and safe water for consumption,” said Speedy, who then had to rush to Sibu due to work commitment.
The school’s chief warden Manggai Entu, 29, said he was instructed by the principal to get the teachers and students to carry materials such as sand, gravels and cements to the site.
“When we do things on ‘gotong-royong’ basis, it’s easier to complete any given task,” said the shy Wilson.
However, he hoped the dry spell would not affect the transportation of diesel needed to run the school’s four generator sets, which are running round-the-clock.
“If fuel cannot be sent here when the Balleh River is too shallow, then we have no choice but to get our water supply directly from Balleh River. But we hope that we wouldn’t have to reach that critical stage,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Land Development Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, when contacted, said he was very happy with the innovative efforts of the school and promised he would assist the school financially to build a stronger coffer dam at the present site.
“I will assist in whatever ways to ensure that teachers and students of SMK Balleh have clean and treated water for consumption,” Masing, who is Baleh assemblyman, said.
SMK Balleh is built to cater to students from longhouses in upper Balleh River. The school has about 300 students in Form 1 to 5, and 36 teachers. All the students are boarders.
The school operates only in the morning as the students’ population is small.
Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/07/08/teachers-innovative-dam-project-saves-the-day/#ixzz3fHkMME5y
My comments:
Bravo! That’s right!
Improve the conditions you can through “gotong-royong” and remember to
claim the expenses incurred for any projects to improve the lot of the students
or people from the assemblyman of your area.
Don’t forget each of the BN state assemblymen is allocated RMONE million
for MRP. It’s 52 years since Sarawak
joined the Malaysia Federation and what a shame to see the lack of this vital
element in life.
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