Articles / Newsletter
25-Jan-2019 | 
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Metro News, The Star Online
(From left) Soroptimist International Region of Malaysia president Dr Saradha Narayanan, Renuka, Kupikupifm station and programme manager Lester Calvin Miol, Liew and Heineken Malaysia managing director Roland Bala launching the ‘Growing with Communities in Sabah’ event.
SPARK Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Heineken Malaysia Bhd, has launched alternative water supply solutions in three villages in Kota Kinabalu, consisting of a gravity water system in Kota Marudu, and a rainwater harvesting system in Keningau and Kota Belud in collaboration with local radio station, Kupikupifm.
This is in line with the state government’s efforts in developing infrastructures for the locals.
The newly built gravity water system in Kampung Gana, Kota Marudu will channel water from a nearby stream to two units of 3.028 cubic metre storage tanks. The water will then be purified for consumption and accessible for use to all the villagers.
On the other hand, the newly-built rainwater harvesting systems in Kampung Minawo Seberang, Keningau and Kampung Sinopukan, Kota Belud will have two units of 3.028 cubic metre water storage tanks each, providing additional water supply to the villagers.
“Our focus this year is to drive growth for the people, and our aim is to improve quality, coverage and supply of treated water to rural areas across the state of Sabah.
“We hope by increasing water supply capacity and providing access to potable water, particularly in remote villages across the state, the people of Sabah will be able to enjoy access to clean water to carry out their daily routines.”
Heineken Malaysia corporate affairs and legal director as well as Spark Foundation trustee Renuka Indrarajah said, “Over the past 11 years, Heineken Malaysia through Spark Foundation, has invested approximately RM8.5mil in driving water projects in Malaysia.
“The water project, a partnership initiated with non-governmental organisations, local government agencies, and local communities, to raise awareness of the importance of river and water conservation, has proven successful.
“In peninsular Malaysia, we have adopted six rivers in Selangor and Perak, and engaged more than 40,000 Malaysians to take charge of the most important water resource.
She also said they had been working with the communities
in East Malaysia in the areas of environmental conservation and education outreach programmes since 2012.
To-date, five rainwater harvesting systems and one gravity water system have been built, providing access to a combined total of an estimated 2.8 million litres of potable water for more than 5,000 villagers in six villages across Sabah.
As part of capacity building and ongoing effort to fully optimise these systems, the villagers will be trained to maintain these systems through close supervision of a technical expert.
Heineken Malaysia has also partnered with Soroptimist International Region of Malaysia (Sirom) to continually engage with villagers, to provide training and educate them on water sanitation and conservation as the latter has been actively working with local communities and authorities to establish 2.02ha of land for an organic farm in Kampung Gana, Kota Mardu.