REPORTING. "There hasn’t been any rain in nine months and the pipes are leaking" : the inhabitants of a Malaysian island faced with problems of access to water
Cairo: Hani Kamal El-Din
Southeast Asia has been experiencing an intense heat wave in recent weeks. In Malaysia, the month of March had already been particularly hot and scorching. The northern region of the country, as a whole, is affected by El Niño, a meteorological phenomenon synonymous with a long dry season.
Langkawi, an island north of Malaysia and inhabited by less than 100 000 residents, is particularly concerned. This destination, which Franceinfo visited, is popular with tourists but has problems with access to water. The cause: months without rain, but also aging infrastructure. Some residents are organizing themselves as best they can to deal with these problems.
In her garden, and under sweltering temperatures in the middle of the day, Norasmina, a resident of Langkawi, turns on her tap. “The water supply is already cut off, there is no more, and when you don’t have a water tank at home, that’s all you have. Sometimes it’s even slower for the Speed.” This resident, at the head of a large family, is organizing herself to cope with the regular absence of running water. “Every day, laundry costs me 10 ringgit. Mineral water, per day, I would say it costs me around 15 ringgit. Do you want to see my bill too? Because I also have to pay my water bill.”
For only a few weeks, this resident now has a cistern in her garden, with the aim of storing water in the event of a power outage. The equipment was given to him by a charity.
