Clean water is a means for villagers in Lermatang, Maluku to stay productive

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Tanimbar Islands, Maluku (ANTARA) –
A group of indigenous people in Lermatan Village, located in the Tanimbar Islands region of Maluku Province, have relied on an ancient well for more than a century to meet their daily clean water needs.

Known as Wetutune Wempas Dalam, the well has been the pulse of villagers’ lives since the 19th century. It is no surprise, then, that it has been designated a traditional well.

Legend has it that the water from this ancient well has healing properties and can help people alleviate illnesses.

In addition, locals believe that when the black magician comes to Lematang village, the water will boil.

To show respect, villagers usually throw small stones they find nearby into the well, which they consider sacred.

Although villagers hold the well in high esteem, they still find it difficult to access the ancient water source.

This ancient well is located in a forest area and villagers need to walk 20 minutes from their homes to reach it. To make matters worse, the well is inaccessible to vehicles.

The journey is difficult and residents have limited capacity to collect water at one time. Those who collect water usually use jerry cans that can hold only 5 to 20 litres of water.

About 90 percent of the village’s 1,645 people rely heavily on the well for water.

The situation tends to become more complicated during prolonged dry seasons, which naturally affects the water supply from the well which is 3 x 3 metres wide and 15 metres deep.

Villager Lince Rumihin, 52, said she had to wait about an hour to get water from the well during the dry season.

Meanwhile, a village official named Mesak Tapdare (52) said that during the dry season, the Wetutune Wempas Dalam well can attract up to 20 people queuing up in the hope of getting a share of water.

Difficulties in obtaining water during the dry season force some villagers to fetch water from any source they can find, which can lead to diarrhea.

Government assistance

Taking note of the difficulties faced by the villagers, the Ministry of Social Affairs took the initiative to provide the village with a clean water treatment facility, which was launched by Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini during his official visit to the Tanibal Islands on Wednesday (June 26).

This water facility is a breath of fresh air for the locals as it eliminates the reliance on old wells which are difficult to access.

With the help of the government, villagers can now use the device’s reverse osmosis method to purify six thousand liters of groundwater per day into drinking water.

In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs provided the village with a pair of water tanks for storing purified water.

To ensure uninterrupted operation of water treatment facilities in the event of power outages, the ministry plans to install solar panels with a total capacity of eight kilowatts peak.

Melka Laim, a 46-year-old sweet potato farmer, said she was very grateful for the assistance provided by the central government.

On the first day of the facility’s operation, she was provided with clean water for drinking, cooking, washing clothes and dishes.

“The water here is very good. I’ve tasted it and it’s cleaner and tastier than well water,” she told Antara newspaper, laughing alongside her husband John, 45.

The clean water treatment units provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs can be seen as one of the government’s efforts to empower the people and help them remain productive.

Minister Rismaharini said she believes healthy people are key to building productive communities.

To this end, she has been directing the Ministry of Social Affairs to work to identify the causes of the disease in order to protect residents and enable them to be more productive.

As the saying goes, “It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.” This is true. The water purification device is a fishing rod that helps the residents of Lematang Village catch “fish.”

By making full use of the facility, villagers no longer have to face the hassle of fetching clean water from old wells, nor do they have to drink water from unreliable sources, thereby avoiding diarrhea that affects productivity.

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