By Shikin Louis
SONG, March 3: Katibas assemblyman Lidam Assan has confirmed a massive buildup of wood debris floating down Sungai Katibas near Song this morning.
He explained that heavy rain in the Upper Katibas area had washed tree branches and wood debris into the river and made it muddy.
At some point, he said, there were many dead fish found floating in the river, believed to be caused by fallen trees upriver carried down by flood water.
“However, the flood water has subsided already where the debris has just floated from Sungai Katibas into Batang Rajang.
“There are no fatalities or any other incidents so far,” he told DayakDaily after his visit to the site today.
Despite the floating debris slowly making its way downriver on its own, Lidam said his team will continue to visit the site again tomorrow to monitor the situation and ensure that local residents are not affected by the incident.
Earlier, netizens had shared videos and photos of the the massive buildup of floating debris on social media.
A post uploaded on the Road Info Kapit Sibu (RISN) Facebook page by a Facebook account owner named Boss Mampo mentioned that the video depicting the incident was taken around 10am today.
The one-minute video clip showed the river full of floating debris, creating a logjam that could adversely affect the livelihoods of local villagers especially those travelling on the river.
In a separate post, a Facebook user named Meelan Nyutim said the floating debris flowing down from Sungai Katibas into Batang Rajang is an unusual phenomenon.
“Due to the massive logjam, the villagers cannot travel to the other river banks or return home and they are forced to wait at a small hut near the riverbank of Song town as they do not dare to go through the river filled with the floating debris,” she wrote.
Watch the video here.
— DayakDaily
