KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30: The Environment and Water Ministry will collaborate with the Sarawak government to clear floating logs or woods in rivers in Sarawak especially at Batang Ai for the safety of the local community.
Its minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said logs floated on rivers posed a risk to the local community to commute especially those using the river as a form of transportation.
“The ministry will study the feedback and complaint brought up and find solutions to the problem in collaboration with the state government.
“I believe the issue during the monsoon season about woods or logs which were drifted away in rivers do pose a risk for the community using riverine transportation especially at night.
“The ministry took note of the problem and hopefully a solution with the state government can be implemented in the near future,” he said in Parliament today.
Tuan Ibrahim was replying to Lubok Antu MP Jugah Muyang who asked the minister for solutions to clear up logs or woods drifted and floated on rivers in Batang Ai especially during the monsoon season.
Earlier, Tuan Ibrahim said the Environment and Water Ministry has taken a few initiatives to assist state governments to increase the cleanliness of rivers.
He noted that work on cleaning up a particular river is under the jurisdiction of the state government.
On another note, Tuan Ibrahim explained that the ministry has implemented the integrated river basin management plan to ensure rivers across the country were clean and be able to reduce the risk of flooding.
Tuan Ibrahim added the integrated river basin management plan will serve as a reference for the state government to plan for development projects which were near the riverbank.
He disclosed that the ministry has conducted studies for 25 river basin projects including the Batang Lupar at Lubok Antu as part of the integrated river basin management plan.
Tuan Ibrahim said at the current juncture, the federal government has completed 12 river basin projects throughout the country. — DayakDaily
