MIRI – The task of clearing tonnes of timber debris jamming up the upper tributaries of Sg Balui within the interiors of Bakun Dam in central Sarawak has started.
Murum assemblyman Kennedy Chuk Pai Ugon said that manpower and machinery had been deployed to cut up the wood that is causing the massive logjam.
“The workers we deployed are using chainsaws to cut up the logs to be carried out from the river,” the assemblyman said in his updates with the local communities today after going to the site to direct clearing works.
“We hope to remove all the logs soon so that the river can be cleared for boats to travel safely.”
Since January, tonnes of timber logs and debris from logging zones have jammed up Sg Balui and its tributaries in the upper reaches of the Bakun Dam in Belaga district in central Sarawak, cutting off more than a thousand natives.
These natives cannot travel to the outside world to buy essential items or go fishing as the rivers are clogged up by massive piles of debris that were washed into these rivers during the floods spanning between November last year and January this year.
The affected villagers are from the populated settlements of Long Keboho, Naha Jalei, Naha Nyalong, Long Bulan, and Long Jawa.
Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Abun Sui Anyit, who is a Belaga native, said the villagers are facing a lot of hardship and dangers to their safety because of these logjams that had choked up the rivers.
He said the villagers had already alerted the state authorities for help, but that 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) is over.
Abun told The Vibes that Lee’s response is not sensible. “There are hundreds of families in the five settlements who are cut off from the outside world for quite some time already after the floods brought tonnes of logging debris into the rivers.
“They cannot navigate their boats through the rivers to get to Belaga town to buy essentials. They cannot even cast their fishing nets to catch fish for their daily food.
“The state authorities must deploy manpower and machineries to clear these logging debris immediately. They cannot wait until after the CMCO. What if the CMCO has to be extended should the Covid-19 cases continue to rise?” he said.
Abun said the natives living in the upper reaches of Belaga district rely on boats to travel along river-routes, as they have no land vehicles of their own.
He also called on the state authorities to act comprehensively to stop such logjam problems that happen regularly in the remote rivers in the state.
These logjams are caused by massive forest-clearing in timber logging zones, and the task of cutting up the logs and hauling them out of the river will be time-consuming, Abun said. – The Vibes, March 30, 2021
