Long Ikang’s longhouses at risk of being swept into Baram River, says activist

 Peter Kallang says the second gabion wall built about a year ago to prevent further erosion is ineffective.

Located about a 40-minute boat ride downriver from Long Banyok in Miri, Long Ikang has been battling severe erosion along a 3.5km stretch of the riverbank. (Long Ikang Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Residents of Long Ikang in Sarawak fear that another round of flooding during the current monsoon season could see their longhouses swept into the Baram River.

Activist Peter Kallang, chairman of the NGO Save Rivers, said the second gabion wall built about a year ago along the riverbank to prevent further erosion was ineffective.

“Urgent action is necessary before the next flood triggers the erosion, which will sweep our home into the Baram River.

“We appeal to the authorities to take immediate and permanent measures to resolve the problem,” The Borneo Post reported him as saying.

Located about a 40-minute boat ride downriver from Long Banyok in Miri, the Kenyah-Kayan settlement has been battling severe erosion for the past two decades along a 3.5km stretch of the riverbank.

One of its four longhouses – the 10-door Kenyah longhouse Uma Kaeng – now stands barely 3m from the river’s edge. A decade ago, it was more than 15m away.

The residents also had to relocate their 42-year-old chapel 2km inland after it nearly slipped into the river. - FMT