Tiong appeals for quick action to solve flood woes in Dudong

KUCHING (Nov 23): Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing claims that the Dudong constituents are now annoyed and frustrated at unending announcements made by the Public Health, Housing and Local Government Ministry promising solutions to the flood situation in his constituency.

The Dudong assemblyman said they had been waiting for the Sarawak Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) under the ministry to implement a very effective mitigation system as there had been no real action or direction taken by the ministry to settle the long-standing matter.

“This is not to mention the anger after they had seen the delegation led by the Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government (Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian) to Denmark and the Netherlands on February 18, 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. We need to prevent the people on the ground from suffering further losses and damage caused by flooding,” he pointed out when debating the Sarawak Budget 2024 during the State Legislative Assembly sitting today.

Tiong also cited that in February this year the Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government mentioned in a Facebook post that the study trip is an eye opener for the minister and the rest of the delegation that needs to be replicated not just for the Sibu Urban Renewal Plan but throughout Sarawak.

He further said that the minister also revealed that the Dutch government intended to provide technical assistance to Sarawak to solve the flood problems, thus making his constituents happy after hearing the news, although they were still waiting for any action regarding the matter to be implemented to this day.

“People on the ground were happy to hear this as they thought that we would finally see the light of hope at the end of the tunnel and there is finally a realistic plan for flood mitigation in Sibu after years.

“Unfortunately, until today, about one and half years have passed, the people have highlighted and told me that till today nothing had been done to resolve the flooding problem which had brought them much distress and damage to crops. When will this issue end?” he said.

Thus, Tiong asked that officers from related ministries or agencies be more focused on improving the people’s livelihoods and be more tenacious, more proactive especially in the flood mitigation project and dredging issue.

To be more effective, he said they must move around on the ground to study and understand the problems, followed by solutions and master plans, especially for the excavation and dredging of the inland drainage system and proposal to upgrade the undersized or improperly built drainage.

“Some earth drains should be upgraded into concrete drains while drainage should be widened, deepened and constructed with a gradient flow from high level to low level.

“At the moment, there are also a lot of small rivers or streams that have been clogged by mud because of reclamation by the land owner or due to lack of maintenance, resulting in the water not discharging properly, especially during heavy downpours,” he said.

He also questioned why the survey of the Rajang and Igan rivers had not been completed even though the government had allocated RM10 million in 2021 for the purpose.

He said it is vital that the survey is completed to obtain data on the siltation status of the rivers for proper planning and design on deepening or dredging of the two rivers.