End of the road for Rajang River's iconic express boats

THE iconic steel-hulled express boats that were once the kings of the Rajang River in Sarawak are now looking at being phased out.

In their heyday, when people living along the Rajang River were fully dependent on them, there were 138 of these loud boats ferrying people to major riverine towns up the country's longest river, like Song, Kanowit, Kapit, and the Iban longhouses dotting the riverbanks. Downriver, the boats serviced the longhouses, sawmills, and timber camps between Sibu and the town of Sarikei.

Today, fewer than six of these express boats are in service.

“The road killed the express boats,” said Sarawak Public Health and Housing Deputy Minister Michael Tiang,

Tiang was referring to the 160km Sibu to Kapit single-carriageway that opened in 2021. Prior to the road opening, boats were the only mode of transport to the riverine towns and longhouses, and the express boat was the cheapest, safest, and most comfortable. The ride to Kapit takes about four hours.

Tiang, who had an office in Kapit when he was practising law, said he had always been mindful of the time for the “last flight” back to Sibu.

“The 3pm boat. Don't miss the 3pm boat,” he recalled. “You miss, 'susah-lah'.”

Those who missed the last boat would have to stay the night in Kapit to catch a boat the next morning or charter a more expensive speedboat to Sibu.

“That’s the downside of the express boat service. With the road, there are no such restrictions. Anyone can travel anytime to Kapit and back,” he said.

The future of few boats that are still in service is uncertain as the government is constructing a new Sibu-Kapit road on the other bank of the river.

“This new road will provide land transport to residents along the Rajang who were affected after the express boat ceased operations following the completion of the Sibu-Kapit road,” Works Minister Alexander Linggi said earlier this month after the ground-breaking ceremony for phase 1 of the project.

The new road is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2027.

Tiang, who said he became acquainted with the express boat operators on his many trips to Kapit, said some of them had switched to doing business on land.

“They are into the bus service now,” he said.

Yet the death of the express boat service has had little impact on Sibu's shipbuilding industry. The last order for an express boat was before the Covid-19 pandemic.

“But the Sibu shipbuilding industry is not affected by what is happening to the express boat service,” said Renco Yong, former president of the Sarawak Association of Maritime Industries. He is now the group executive adviser.

Yong said the loss of the express boats had been offset by even bigger orders from Indonesia for tugboats and barges.

“When then Indonesian president Jokowi lifted the ban on mineral and palm oil exports, there was a rush for tugboats and barges,” he said.

Ten years ago, there were only 3,000 boats  in Indonesia," he said.

“Today there are 30,000.”

While some of the express boats have been repurposed for leisure, fishing, or diving, the majority of them are tied up at the “Kapit wharf”, gathering moss and rusting.

“It’s very unsightly." – May 26, 2024.