KUCHING – Sarawak has 77 areas that are at high risk of soil erosion, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
In view of this, Uggah said he had instructed all divisional engineers in the state to discuss with the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department, which had determined the risk, to investigate the identified areas.
“The Fire and Rescue Department has identified 77 areas that have this high erosion risk and I have ordered all engineers in Sarawak to discuss with the fire department to identify and study the area.
“And then, we will decide whether pre-emptive measures should be taken to avoid causing problems. We will also inform local residents of the risk and will warn them,” he said after hosting a Christmas open house at his residence in BDC here yesterday.
Uggah, who is also state infrastructure minister, also said that the Public Works Department (PWD) has reactivated its emergency team to be on full alert to do repair works on the infrastructure affected by the floods.
“Similarly, we are preparing because there are several places where there is a flood, roads can break, bridges break. Our PWD team is now on full alert 24 hours seven days a week to repair broken bridges and roads.
“The media has a lot of complaints from the northern zone, so it really pays attention. So my department is doing its very best to ensure any infrastructure that is damaged is repaired as soon as possible,” he added.
Uggah, who is also the chairman of the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee, said the operation room has also been reactivated since December 23 to be in full alert mode to monitor the recent flood situation.
He also appealed for the division-level and district-level committees to be in full alert mode until the end of February. – Borneo Post Online, December 26, 2022
