MIRI – The ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) elected representatives should deploy their party workers and members to help repair damaged homes and clear the mud brought by the latest floods in the rural parts of northern Sarawak.
Social activist Willie Kajan, a native of the Mulu National Park in Baram, said flood victims have always been left to sort out the mess by themselves in the aftermath of floods.
Speaking to The Vibes, Kajan said that many longhouses were inundated by floodwaters for the past one week.
Sharing pictures taken from numerous rural settlements including Long Panai, which suffered massive damage due to the floods, Kajan said the natives have put in massive effort to clear the tonnes of muddy debris which had piled up inside their homes.
Travelling to Long Panai takes roughly seven hours via timber road from Miri.
“The floods brought mud, timber debris and rubbish into our compounds.
“We, the villagers, have to clear this big volume of mess and then have to repair those parts of our wooden homes damaged and broken by the flood water.
“The YBs (state assemblymen and Members of Parliament) should render us much needed manpower from their political office and their parties.
“The problems caused by the floods which affect residents are among the responsibilities these YBs must shoulder,” he said, adding that the floods in Long Panai have subsided today.
Longhouses, however, are covered by thick layers of mud, with their residents having to use shovels to clear the mess.
In other settlements such as Long Ekang, the floodwaters continue to cover the ground.
Roughly 700 villagers in the settlement are on standby to evacuate due to the rising waters.
The floodwaters entered the longhouses following torrential rain for the past eight days.
Community elder Peter Kallang told The Vibes that the flood-stricken villagers had sent urgent appeals to Telang Usan state assemblyman Dennis Ngau to help them.
“The rain has been falling non-stop and the whole longhouse and nearby houses are all flooded until now.
“The farms are also inundated by the floods as the river tributaries have burst their banks.
“Urgent help is needed as the floods have entered all the homes,” he said.
Kallang said the village development committee has alerted Ngau about the latest floods in Long Ekang.
“The YB and the state government must find a solution to these flood woes that are becoming too frequent,” he said.
Kallang said the 700-plus villagers in Long Ekang have moved their belongings from the ground floor of their homes to the second floor.
“They have no other alternative place to evacuate,” he added.
He called on Ngau to deploy aid to those affected by floods not just in Long Ekang but also other inundated longhouses too.
Long Ekang is roughly five hours from Miri via road and river travel.
The Baram district, which is located some 200km from Miri, is one of the most populated districts in Sarawak hit by a wave of floods. – The Vibes, February 3, 2022
