THE shallow estuary of the Batang Mukah river poses a major problem for fishermen trying to access the sea, disrupts industrial vessel operations.
During the flood season, the shallowness causes floodwaters to recede slowly, especially when it coincides with a king tide.
Tellian Assemblyman, Royston Valentine, said apart from the increasingly unpredictable effects of climate change, this situation is one of the key factors contributing to the prolonged flooding that occurred in Mukah earlier this year, lasting up to two weeks.
“Such an event had never occurred before, whereby longhouses in the upper reaches of the Batang Mukah were inundated up to the waist level, and homes in the villages were severely affected.
“Therefore, I urge the responsible agencies to carry out a thorough study and propose solutions to overcome this issue,” he said.
He said this when debating in support of the motion of appreciation to the Head of State, Tun Pehin Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s speech in the august House today.
During the recent flood disaster, Royston added that several problems were identified and must be addressed through preventive measures.
“It was found that electricity supply to residential homes, telecommunication towers and water treatment plants was disrupted due to Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) substations being submerged, resulting in severe service interruptions.
“I would like to recommend that SEB review the criteria and requirements for SEB substation locations, as well as the components of electrical supply to telecommunication towers and water treatment plants to reduce the risk of prolonged service disruption.
“On this occasion, I would also like to express my gratitude and congratulations to Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB) Mukah Division for their proactive response during the recent flood crisis, which successfully ensured that the Mukah water treatment plant continued to operate effectively, providing clean water supply to the residents,” he said.
Touching on the matter of telecommunication towers, Royston urged the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to expedite the implementation of telecommunication tower projects under the JENDELA programme in Tellian, so that this facility can be made available to the residents who are in urgent need of it at this time.
