KUCHING – The Sarawak Rivers Board is making the necessary preparations to clear a logjam in Upper Belaga, Kapit, which occurred following the impounding of the Bakun hydroelectric dam.
State Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said the clearing work could not be carried out immediately due to the movement control order and conditional movement control order that had been imposed in the Sibu and Kapit divisions respectively.
“It is important to understand that the proposed river clearing activity will involve close interaction and contact between people, and this is not allowed in our efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the state,” he said in a statement today.
He said a team led by SRB with representatives from several relevant departments and Sarawak Energy Bhd conducted a visit on December 21 last year and eventually recommended the river clearing to create safe boat passage for the communities living in five villages in the area.
“SRB and the relevant agencies will work with the communities in the affected areas by tagging the logs, which will be spiked with iron nails and secured onto the riverbank with ropes,” he added.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri James Jemut Masing and Assistant Rural Electricity Minister Datuk Liwan Lagang had raised the need to clear the logjam urgently to end the woes faced by the people there.
Masing said the logjam had clogged up the upper reaches of Sg Linau and made the task of navigating the river almost impossible.
“In the latest incident, six longhouses are affected by the logjam, namely Naha Nyabong, Sang Anau, Long Keboho, Naha Jalei, Long Jawe, and Long Busang, and more people in the Bakun area who need to go upriver cannot do so,” he said.
Liwan said he had already appealed for urgent assistance from the government agencies for these people who had cried for help.
He said he had insufficient resources to assist them alone for such a massive undertaking. – Bernama, January 20, 2021
