By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Dec 12: Works will be carried out to identify the causes of flooding in Kampung Jugan in Bau here.
Yesterday night (Dec 11), seven families with 42 people were forced to evacuate to the flood relief centre at the village’s community hall following a continuous heavy downpour which triggered flash floods in the area.
All villagers returned home today and the relief centre was closed at 9am.
Bau District Officer Anielia Siam said the village has so far been affected by flood three times this year.
“As such, we will follow up on the flood problem affecting the village including submitting a report to the State Disaster Management Committee.
“Even though the flood was not lasting, we still need to find out the causes. It could be due to shallow drainage or blockage,” she told reporters today.
Anielia explained that before this, the small drainage culvert was identified as a cause for concern but now, there could be need to carry out vegetation clearing along small streams to ease flow of water especially during heavy rain.
“We will go down to the ground to check and to take further action,” she assured.
She pointed out that landslides were a bigger concern in the Bau area due to the contour of the land with many slopes such as in Serembu constituency.
“There are cases in Kampung Gumbang and Kampung Bijureh and we are monitoring the problem closely.
“In terms of damage, it is still under control and there are no houses badly affected yet. But action will be immediately taken to remove all soil to ensure safety of the houses,” she added.
Earlier on, Anielia accompanied Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Henry Harry Jinep to inspect the Dataran Bazaar Krokong in Bau here to inspect preparations underway for the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Leaders ‘Meet The People’ programme this coming Saturday (Dec 14). — DayakDaily
