By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Nov 23: Dudong constituents have been waiting for more than 20 years for flash flood issues to be resolved but what they have been getting are only announcement upon announcement of promised solutions.
Dudong assemblyman Dato Sri Tiong King Sing (GPS-PDP) when raising their collective concern, questioned “when will the flood mitigation plan that has been planned for many years be put into action?”
“They have been waiting for the DID (Department of Irrigation and Drainage) under the Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government to implement a very effective mitigation system to prevent the people on the ground from suffering further losses and damage caused by flooding.
“They are annoyed and frustrated as while they have seen and heard unending announcements promising solutions to the flood situation, but until now there has been no real action or the direction to settle this long-standing matter.
“Not to mention the anger after they had seen the delegation led by the Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government to Denmark and the Netherlands on 18 February 2023, claiming to be on a mission to learn about water resource management and water control policies.
“Yet, nothing of value seems to have been produced from these visits in the form of a realistic plan for flood mitigation in Sibu after months,” said Tiong while debating Sarawak Budget 2024 in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting in DUN Complex here today.
He said it is the view of his constituents that officers from the related ministry or agencies must be more focused on improving the people’s livelihoods and be more tenacious and proactive, especially in this flood mitigation project and dredging issue.
“The attitude of the relevant departments also makes the State assembly persons feel excluded and marginalised, because every time we ask the relevant departments about the progress and results of the riverbed hydraulic report, we cannot get any complete information,” said Tiong.
To his understanding, until today, there is still no master plan for the excavation and dredging of the inland drainage system and proposal to upgrade the undersized or improperly built drainage.
Asserting that all governmental decisions should be informed ones and supported by statistics from studies,
Tiong questioned the outcome of the survey on the Rajang and Igan rivers for which an allocation of RM10 million in 2021 was set aside.
“Until today, why isn’t the survey completed? If the survey in these two rivers is not carried out, we can’t have the data on the river siltation status or the condition. Then how can we have the proper plan to carry out the design for deepening or dredging for the two rivers?” asked Tiong who is also the federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister.
Bringing up the suggestion of his constituents to offset the cost of dredging with commercial interest, he questioned if there is any possibility to invite interested third parties to dredge the two rivers for free in exchange for the sand harvested from the river. — DayakDaily
