PASIR MAS: Residents exasperated by empty taps and the inability of Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd (AKSB) to resolve the water issue have resorted to removing their water meters installed by the state-owned water company and digging their own wells for water supply instead.
Residents from several villages such as Kasa and Tendong here said they had lost all hope of getting any steady water supply or AKSB resolving the issue as the problem had persisted for years.
Those interviewed said they were left with no choice but to remove AKSB meters from their homes as a sign of protest for being billed monthly despite getting no water supply.
Resident Owe Cheng Huai, 72, said the problem was especially prevalent in the Tendong area.
"Despite being AKSB customers for many years, almost all of us are unhappy with the service we are getting.
"We are being billed every month but there is no water supply to our homes.
"This problem has been going on for more than 20 years," he said, adding that many of his relatives in Tendong have also removed water meters from their homes as a sign of protest.
On the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) investigation into the failed tube well project undertaken by AKSB, he said there were nearly 400 houses in the village and 95 per cent of them were still facing water supply issues.
Mechanic Koh Gok Buan, 62, said people here had come to accept that there was something amiss about AKSB as it had failed to improve its services for many years.
"We often read about the huge allocation given to Kelantan to address its water woes but the situation remains the same.
"Villagers here no longer rely on AKSB. We have built our own wells and also bought tanks to store water."
Petrol station worker Ang Boon Kek said he and his family had also dug a well, which is now about 100 years old from the time of his late grandfather.