Balleh waterways are the main form of transport that connect the rural areas to the urban areas along the mighty Rejang River such as Kapit, Song, Kanowit, Sibu, Sarikei and Tanjung Manis.
Pelagus Assemblyman, Wilson Nyabong Ijang said every year more than 200,000 people use Balleh waterways to go into the interior, to the longhouses, timber camps and to the site of Balleh Hydro Electricity Dam and vice-versa and these waterways should be seen as incredibly valuable assets.
He said private timber companies have been reaping millions of ringgit by felling trees in Putai before spearheading in the interior of Balleh tributaries.
“In the past four decades, they have been using the Balleh waterways to travel from Putai right down to Tanjung Manis and vice-versa.
“In the process of transporting the logs from the interior of Balleh to Tanjung Manis, they have brought about hazards to other river users by abandoning damaged and capsized barges or tug-boats.
“Personally, I have observed not less than seven barge wreckages and tug-boats which have capsized along the Balleh waterways. However, sadly nothing has been done to solve the problems,” he said in his debate on the motion of thanks to TYT’s address during the DUN sitting, yesterday.
According to him, the wreckages that had sunken and half sunken are endangering the lives of river users, especially at night.
“I propose that the government take enforcement measure to find the owners and penalise them for abandoning their barge wreckages along the Balleh waterways or allocate funds and to appoint contractors to remove the wreckages.
“It is now even more important to address this issue, especially with Balleh Hydro Electric Power Dam due for construction soon. About 70 per cent of Balleh waterways will be used to transport materials, equipment, manpower and others from Kapit to Balleh HEP Dam site and vice versa,” he said.
