Groups urge stricter auditing of flood, erosion mitigation projects in Sarawak

CIVIL society groups want stricter auditing of flood and erosion mitigation projects in Sarawak where huge sums of government money have been allocated but little progress is seen on the ground.

Northern Sarawak Society for Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Sarawak (Scrips) coordinator Michael Ding said populated settlements like Long Panai, Long Bemang, Kuala Tutoh, Long Ekang in the Baram district, and other districts continue to suffer from severe flooding and erosion year after year.

“The situation is getting from bad to worse but we hear from the state and federal governments that they have been approving huge sums of allocations to mitigate these woes.

“Even in places where erosion prevention walls were built, erosion is still happening.

“There have also been little improvement to irrigation and drainage systems in flood hotspots,” Ding told The Vibes, adding that stricter audits must be carried out.

Environmental group Save Rivers chairman Peter Kallang said in his home settlement of Long Ekang, his longhouse is in danger of being washed away by floods due to the severely eroded riverbank.

“We heard that RM900 million was approved by the federal government for mitigation projects but on the ground in Sarawak, the funds have not helped many rural folk facing critical woes,” he said.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) had said there are many more problematic public infrastructure projects in rural Sarawak that the auditor-general should investigate more intensively.

The SAM ground coordinator for Sarawak, Jok Jau Evong, said the large number of water supply projects that had failed to take off in Sarawak since 2016 as mentioned in the latest auditor-general’s report is just one example of important public projects that had failed to meet their objectives despite huge sums of financial allocation.

“The AG’s office should also probe into the longstanding problems of rural roads and bridges that are in very bad shape.

“Despite the promises made by politicians that financial allocations to upgrade these facilities, the reality on the ground will show that our rural roads and bridges are in horrendous conditions.

“As far as the water supply projects are concerned, there are longhouses where water pipes have been installed but the supply gets disrupted very often.

“I know of longhouses where the whole population needs to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking because they have no water supply.

“These are the harsh realities in many parts of rural Sarawak that need to be probed,” Jok told The Vibes.

Jok, who is himself a local native from the remote Baram district in northern Sarawak, said he has seen the very bad conditions of public facilities that had plagued rural Sarawak for decades.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusuf had recently said the weaknesses at the ground level in implementing projects have been identified as the primary reasons why RM1.5 billion worth of water supply projects had failed to take off in Sarawak and Sabah since 2016. – July 16, 2024.