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 21/04/2008:
Not only Rejang River, Kemena River needs to be dreged too, Tiong
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| BINTULU:
Not only the Rejang River needs to be dredged, Kemena River here has become
the second water way in Central Sarawak to face the same environmental
problem, and now, it needs to be dredged as well.
In a press statement received here yesterday, Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said he had brought the problem to the parliament, and the Federal Government had approved a fund of RM100 million for the dredging of soil and sand at Kemena River mouth. But, he was disappointed that the Sarawak Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) had not done anything constructive about it. The question now Tiong, who is also a Justice of the Peace, wants to ask is, "Where has the allocated fund gone to?" He hoped the DID would explain this to the people of Bintulu, and whether they had obtained the fund. He said the situation was urgent and he hoped the department would not drag its feet on for too long, or else the people would suffer further when the floods in Bintulu became more serious and frequent. "I don't want to hear any excuses, neither do I want to hear things like the department had not got the money or that the department did not know there was such a fund." He said when the fund was approved, it was their duty to follow up. He said the department should now go to the ground to study the situation. "See for yourself what has happened to Kemena River and its tributaries." He said siltation had become so serious that it had affected the fishermen, and sometimes, their trawlers had problems passing through the stretch. He said the department should not wait until when they had to build bunds around Bintulu town. "I don't hope to see Bintulu turning into another Venice of the East." |
