MIRI – Huge sinkholes have appeared along stretches of roads in the interior of the Marudi district in northern Sarawak, as the weather deteriorates in the rural localities.
Villagers in the district, located about 150km inland from Miri, are sharing photos of the sinkholes on their roads.
The pits are so large they cover half of the road. At least 15 seem to have popped up on a key road leading from Marudi town to the Long Jegan settlement.
One hole is said to be big enough to swallow a motorcycle, or cause serious damage to a car.
Sarawak PKR’s Marudi branch has since blasted the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government for the horrendous state of these rural lanes.
Its chairman Elias Lipi said in his social media postings today that GPS had in 2019 promised to allocate RM200 million to repair roads in the interior of northern Sarawak.
“GPS’ Marudi assemblyman Datuk Penguang Manggil had repeatedly said his constituency would get a big amount of the RM200 million from the state government for road repairs in northern Sarawak.
“He has been saying this for years,” Elias said.
“I have just travelled with the Sarawak PKR team and (Miri MP and state PKR vice-chairman) Dr Michael Teo to numerous settlements, and found at least 15 big sinkholes that have appeared on the road from Marudi town to Long Jegan.”
Yesterday, a part of the road between Melipis and Kapit in central Sarawak had caved in following a hillslope collapse caused by heavy rain.
About 30,000 residents in the Kapit district have had their main land link for travelling severed.
Three days ago, another similar hillslope collapse happened at KM12 of Jalan Samling in the Baram district, 200km inland from Miri City.
That incident was also caused by erosion due to torrential rain.
The interior weather has been getting bad during the run-up to the 12th Sarawak election. Heavy rains have been spotted during the nights and early mornings for the past week. – The Vibes, November 13, 2021
