Gabion wall installation works along the road between Long Ekang and Lulo Banyoh in Baram. Photo taken by Peter Kallang.

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By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, July 9: Save Rivers chairman Peter Kallang has slammed the gabion wall installation along the road between Long Ekang and Lulo Banyoh in Baram as wasteful and ineffective in mitigating riverbank erosion.

He said, during a day trip home to Long Ekang on Monday (July 8), he found the project abandoned for an unexplained reason, and there was no worker present at the site whom he could consult.

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He also asserted the gabion wall would not resolve the riverbank erosion problems as he claimed that the same structure built at another location in the same village had been ironically washed down the river due to erosion.

“I’m still convinced that gabion walls will not resolve these erosion and landslide problems. It’s just a waste of money and effort.

“As I’ve highlighted a number of times with our NGOs (non-governmental organisations)  and friends, a gabion wall installation for the same purpose at another location in the same village was washed down the river due to the very problem which it was supposed to prevent,” said Kallang in a statement today.

Gabion wall installation works along the road between Long Ekang and Lulo Banyoh in Baram. Photo taken by Peter Kallang.

He noted that there is an increase in such cases which he viewed as due to the inappropriate use of land. — DayakDaily