CO885-(20-21) — Page 395

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

PEPE C.O.885

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21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

SIR,

(No. 4435/1909.)

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Enclosure in No. 65.

Kuala Lumpur, Federated Malay States, 23rd November, 1909. I AM directed to forward, for your information, the enclosed copy of a circular setting out the measures which it is considered advisable should be taken for the prevention of ankylostomiasis among labourers on estates.

2. In inviting your careful attention to this matter, upon the importance of which, in view of the serious nature of the disease and the extent to which it is known to be prevalent in the Federated Malay States, it is impossible to insist too strongly, I am to state that the Government trusts that all owners and managers of estates will assist in combating the disease.

I have, &c.,

To the Manager,

Estate.

SANITATION ON ESTATES.

R. G. WATSON,

Federal Secretary.

In view of the serious invaliding and mortality from ankylostomiasis and intestinal diseases among labourers on estates, owners and persons in charge of estates are earnestly invited to direct their attention more closely to matters of sanitation.

On all estates there should be provided :

1. Latrines;

2. Adequate and properly protected water supplies.

Labourers who suffer from ankylostomiasis, and who deposit their excreta on the surface of the ground, expose their fellow labourers unnecessarily to the risk of infection. Also, labourers who suffer from infectious intestinal diseases, and who deposit their excreta on land the water from which feeds the wells, may cause the drinking water to become infected and thus lead to the spread of intestinal diseases to others.

It is therefore obvious:

(1) That in order to limit the incidence of ankylostomiasis the latrines must

be made on suitable ground, and defæcation limited to these places; (2) That on those estates where the water supply is obtained from wells the

latrines must not be erected on the land drained by these wells.

Latrines.

The latrines should be situated at a distance of not less than 25 yards from the lines. They must be made on dry ground-that is, ground in which water is not met with on excavation to a depth of 3 feet.

On this ground a trench 3 feet deep, 2 feet broad, and length in the proportion of 25 feet for every 100 coolies, should be dug.

In order to keep the trench dry it should be covered with a movable super- structure possessing roof and walls; around this structure a drain must be made. The superstructure need not be costly, and for guidance the annexed plans are, given. The trench should be sprinkled with dry earth at least once daily. When the trench has become filled to within one foot of the surface it should be completely filled up with earth and a new trench brought into use.

Under exceptional conditions deep pit-latrines may be permissible, but the level of the ground water in such places must not be high, and on the estate with such latrines the water supply must not be obtained from wells; also the danger must not exist of contaminating the water supply on adjacent estates where water must perforce be obtained from wells.

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On low-lying lands near the sea, and where, on account of the high level of the ground water, trench latrines are impracticable, it should be possible to make latrines over drains running into the sea, but precautions must be taken so that the rising tide shall not wash the contents of the drains inland; if this cannot be done, then buckets should be employed, and the contents of these should be regularly dumped into the sea and the buckets cleaned.

Water Supplies.

Where the water supply is obtained from wells these should not be made near the latrines, so that the land on which the latrines are situated is not within the area drained by the wells.

The following is a description of a brick well suitable for water supply on estates not in the coast districts:

The shaft should be from 4 to 6 feet in diameter; it may be founded on a curb of hardwood and sunk by excavating the earth inside and beneath the curb as it is built up. The lower portion should preferably be provided with weep holes, or may be formed partly of loose bricks laid between rings of brickwork in cement, to admit water from the surrounding soil; the middle portion, above ordinary water level, may be of brickwork in lime or cement, the latter being preferable, and the upper portion, for a depth of 8 or 10 feet from the surface, should be built in cement mortar or rendered outside with cement to make it impervious.

The shaft should be raised 2 or feet above ground level, this portion being rendered in cement, and surrounded by a concreted area, 3 or 4 feet wide, sloping to a concrete or brick drain which should be extended 20 or 30 feet from the well at the outlet.

Special care should be taken to exclude surface drainage, and the space round the well, where any soil has been loosened, could be made tight with clay, harder material being rammed in above this to form a foundation for the concrete apron.

On low-lying lands near the sea the following is suggested as a possible method for obtaining a suitable water supply:

Water may be obtained from specially reserved areas, which should be fenced. A collecting tank may be formed in each of these by excavating a large pit and surrounding it with a sand revetment, supported by piles and planks, through which all surface water must filter. Drains may also be made to increase the supply by digging trenches 3 to 4 feet in depth, laying stones or pipes in these and filling them with sand. These drains should connect with the sand revetment above referred to.

The material dug from the collecting tank and drains can be used to form a storage tank, into which water should be pumped from the former by means of an oil engine, a wind-mill, manual labour, or some other available power.

The arrangements suggested are shown in the accompanying sketches,* which suppose the collecting area to be one acre; the collecting tank to be 60' x 40', capable of holding about 90,000 gallons, and the storage tank to have a capacity of 30,000 gallons.

If 15 per cent. of the total rainfall is collected, this will be about 10 inches during the year, and amounts, on an area of one acre, to 220,000 gallons, giving an average of 600 gallons daily, which is probably sufficient for 100 coolies.

On this basis the storage tank holds a 50 days' supply, but should not perhaps be relied on for more than 42 days, as there will be considerable evaporation in dry weather.

The collecting tank will not often be filled or remain full, but it will supple- ment the other, and probably retain sufficient to afford an equal supply during the first half of any dry season, so that together the two tanks should provide for a period of about three months, which seems ample in this country.

Both the collecting area and the storage capacity of the tanks must be varied to suit actual requirements in each case, and the assumed data may require to be amended as the result of experience.

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