8 million kgs of timber debris removed, but Sarawak waterways still jammed

UP to eight million kgs of timber debris from logjams in central Sarawak rivers have been removed, but there are still massive amounts jamming the waterways.

Sarawak Forestry Department director Datuk Hamden Mohammed said his department had deployed contractors equipped with cranes and barges to try to clear the choked rivers.

"So far, at least 8,000 tonnes of logs and big chunks of wood debris have been removed from logjam sites in Sungai Rajang.

"The operations are ongoing and we have identified the source of these timber debris to be from timber concession sites that were hit by flash floods.

"These logs and debris are not due to illegal logging," he said after a briefing with Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board and other riverine agencies in Kuching.

Hamden said the department had hired contractors to physically remove the logs from the rivers using cranes and barges as logbooms cannot be used to trap the timber debris due to their large size.

The heavy rain, floods and erosion along the riverbanks are making the situation more difficult as these have caused timber debris to be swept continuously into the rivers, he stressed.

This latest incident of logjams saw tonnes of timber logs and wood waste choking the Sungai Rajang and Sungai Katibas and their tributaries in the Belaga district in central Sarawak, causing river-travel disruptions for a large population of rural riverine folks.

State assemblyman for Katibas constituency, Lidam Assan, had on March 5 summoned the authorities to investigate the source of these logjams.

"Flash floods had over the past few days washed down a big amount of felled logs and wood waste into Sungai Katibas and Sungai Rajang up to the riverine town of Song.

"The wharf at Song was also clogged with logs and wood waste. Four riverine-populated longhouses are also affected.

"I have called on the authorities to check the source of these logs and wood waste. There could be indiscriminate felling of trees along the rivers, causing these big amounts of logs and wood waste to be washed into the rivers by the flash floods," he told reporters when meeting enforcement officials of the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board and Sarawak River Board in his Katibas service centre.

Lidam said the enforcement teams will deploy personnel to try to locate the source of the problems. -The Vibes, March 7, 2024