After more than two decades living without water, the by-election has finally brought welcome news for Merlimau voter C Ragunathan.

Soon after Malaysiakini reported his predicament last week, the dairy farmer received visits from politicians and representatives of government agencies suddenly keen to solve his problems.

"After the report, representatives of the state water agency came and inspected our premises and enquired about how we source for water.

"Even the health department came to ask if we put chlorine in the well we use for drinking water...But they didn't promise to provide running water," he said when met yesterday.

NONE Ragunathan ( left ) and his household of more than 10 live in Kampung Paya Yoki, 6km from Merlimau town smack in between a Sime Darby oil palm estate and government reserve land which is now a small forest.

Sime Darby had rejected the land as it was swampy and the government had then sold it to 20 families most of whom have now chosen to move out citing lack of amenities and access road.

Ragunathan's family source water from a 9 meter deep pond and a well within the estate perimeter, the only access road goes through a gate locked up by Sime Darby daily from 7pm and 7am .

But about a week ago, Malacca MIC deputy chairperson S Mahadevan had told them that the government may build an access road which cuts through the government's reserve land, bypassing the estate.

"He said that we should first clear the reserve land and we have. It cost us about RM4,000 as there was dense overgrowth...this will not be compensated. We've also shown him the plan of where the road can be, but it's their job to do the land survey," Ragunathan said.

New electricity poles, street lamps

Tenaga Nasional Berhad also dropped by several days after the report to build two more electrical poles and provide seven street lamps.

merlimau Five years ago Ragunathan had paid TNB for erecting a couple of electrical poles as the energy company said it would not be able to provide it otherwise as the power grid is about 2km away.

"It was done the proper way. I applied and paid them the fee for the electric poles. The total cost, including wiring work and generator, came up to about RM30,000.

This has been confirmed by Negri Sembilan and Malacca Electric Commission director Md Rasdi Abdullah, who sighted Ragunathan's application to TNB in his investigation, fearing any wrongdoing on TNB Malacca's part following the news reports.

NONE "The new poles and street lamps is really good news for us and we're thankful to TNB. But we still have the road issue, which we hope that the relevant parties can help solve as soon as possible," Ragunathan said.

The father of three added that the lack of an access road that does not cut through the estate also eats into his income.

"I also plant some oil palm, and when we want to bring our crops out the estate patrol officer would think that we are stealing their crop, so he insists that he escorts us out from our land to make sure the fruits are ours.

"But there are times when he is busy and we have to wait a few days and by then our fruits have reduced in weight. The price of oil palm fruits is about RM800 a tonne, and each kilogramme less is a loss for us," he said.

Dacing means stability

All the same, Ragunathan remains a staunch MIC supporter, just as his late father was.

NONE "When I was younger there was a party using the symbol of a sampan. My father told me that when the sampan goes in the water it's unstable.

"But the dacing (the weighscale, symbolising BN) is stable, showing that it is fair and does not prefer one race over the other, so this is the party we must support. I have supported BN ever since but I hope that BN will pay attention to our woes.

"I don't know whether or not (the government) is thinking about our problems. We pay our asssesment fees too, and to pay the fee we must have revenue and this is not easy without amenities," he said.

VIDEO | 9.55 mins