Another logjam in Kapit’s rivers sparks call for probe

MIRI – Tonnes of timber debris are clogging up rivers in Kapit division, especially Sg Baleh that flows to the Baleh hydroelectric dam.

Save Sarawak Rivers chairman Peter Kallang has called for an investigation into the reoccurrence.

“The state authorities must probe into why these logjams keep happening. It probably shows great environmental degradation on our land and rivers,” he told The Vibes.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri James Jemut Masing blamed the logjam on timber operators.

“The impact is going to be more devastating as the log debris heads to the ongoing Baleh Dam construction area,” he said in a statement today.

Masing, who is Baleh assemblyman, said the state government should terminate the contract of errant timber operators if they cannot properly manage their logging activities.

Pictures taken from villagers along Sg Baleh showed its tributaries choked by logs and wood debris. This is the second major logjam in Kapit this year.

Since January, tonnes of timber logs and debris from logging zones have jammed up Sg Balui and its tributaries, cutting off access for more than 1,000 natives.

The affected villagers were from Long Keboho, Naha Jalei, Naha Nyalong, Long Bulan and Long Jawa.

On March 30, the state authorities cleared tonnes of timber debris in the upper reaches of Sg Balui near Bakun Dam.

Murum assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon deployed teams to cut up the logs with chainsaws before removing them from the river.

Sarawak PKR information chief Abun Sui Anyit, who is a Belaga native, in March said villagers were facing a lot of hardship and danger because of these logjams.

He said the villagers had already alerted the state authorities for help but state Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin had responded by saying works can only be carried out to remove the logging debris from the rivers after the conditional movement control order (CMCO) ends.

Abun told The Vibes that the response from Lee was not sensible.

“There are hundreds of families in the five settlements who cannot head to towns after floods brought tonnes of logging debris into the rivers. They cannot wait until after the CMCO.”

Abun said the natives living in the upper reaches of the river rely on boats to travel as they have no other mode of transport. – The Vibes, August 22, 2021