Tiong wants riverbed dredging to prevent floods, questions DID spending

 

Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing has expressed fears of rising water levels at Sarawak rivers and is calling for a long-term master plan.

He said that the government must adopt long-term response strategies and plans to address needs 15 to 20 years into the future.

"We have to go to the root causes to treat the issues we are facing today in water management and flood mitigation.

"I must stress that merely improving drains will only solve a part of the entire problem of floods.

"To rid Sibu, especially Dudong, of flash floods, we must set to dredging the riverbeds in Rajang and Igan rivers as soon as possible. This is the right medicine for the sickness, instead of just curing the symptoms," Tiong said in a statement.

The Dudong assemblyperson went on to question the allocation of funds in a recent survey.

He said that the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) previously applied for a grant of RM10 million to carry out riverbed survey work on the Rajang and Igan rivers.

"When I checked on this matter not long ago, the director disclosed that a total of RM6 million had been approved. However, the department had then also said that it intended to use only RM2.8 million to conduct the relevant survey.

"This is absolutely unacceptable to me: RM6 million was granted for this work, where did the other RM3.2 million go?" he added. 

Malaysiakini is seeking a response from the DID on this matter.

Focus areas

Tiong cited rising water levels in the Dudong area, including Stabau, Sentosa, and Jalan Salim, as focus areas of his discussion with the Sibu DID and the Sarawak Rivers Board.

"Based on reports from the related departments, the excavators used for drainage and ditch-digging projects are all small tonnage models.

"My point of view is that these machines are not big enough to perform any meaningful work to widen and deepen the rivers, only to clear garbage clogging the rivers. We also cannot simply widen the river width without lowering the depth," he added.

The five-term MP called on government departments to focus on upgrading small drains into reinforced concrete drains that are wider to prepare for sudden and rapid increases in water volume.

"This should improve the local problems of insufficient drain capacity which lead to flash floods and other disasters.

"Doing this is important to protect the residents from being plagued by frequent flash floods, which will place great financial and health burdens on low-income households and the economy," Tiong said. - Mkini