Government urged to resolve sand-dredging furore

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KUCHING: Balingian assemblyman Yussibnosh Balo is urging the relevant authorities to look into the sand dredging activities at Sungai Mukah estuary that has raised the ire of Kampung Litong folk.

Villagers, led by Zaidi Bujang, surround the operator’s barge. — Photo by Nicklos Louis Kaderi

He said on Tuesday that the villagers were worried the dredging work would “sink” their village.

Thus, Yussibnosh said he believed it was best for the authorities, such as the Land and Survey Department and Natural Resources and Environmental Board (NREB), to investigate the matter.

Mukah Resident Office will be the lead agency to oversee the matter, he assured.

The villagers are strongly against the renewed sand dredging works at the mouth of the river for fear of soil erosion at the river banks. Two days ago, a group of protesters hopped into boats and surrounded the operator’s barge that was used to carry out the dredging.

The workers immediately stopped work to avoid any untoward incident. It was understood that village chief Jamahari Sahli had lodged a police report about the sand dredging work.

“I leave it to the authorities concerned, especially the Land and Survey and NREB to tackle the issue, with Mukah Resident Office as the lead agency to oversee this matter,” Yussibnosh told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.

Yesterday, Utusan Borneo quoted protestors’ leader, Zaidi Bujang, as saying that the sand dredging operator had been stubborn. Calling for cooperation from the operator to stop work, he cautioned that some villagers might “cross the line” to show their displeasure.

“We only want to save our village from soil erosion, which could cause our village to sink and disappear,” said Zaidi.

Meanwhile, an online news portal yesterday quoted Jamahari as saying that the villagers had previously raised the matter up with authorities, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

The village chief said dredging was done at the river mouth before, but on that occasion the villagers successfully applied for a retaining wall to be built along the coast against erosion.

“If there was no retaining wall, I believe the whole village would have been destroyed when strong tidal waves hit. During the monsoon season, the waves are usually strong, high and often hitting the river banks at our village.”

Although the retaining wall is still in place, the villagers fear that dredging would inflict more damage, including sinking the retaining wall into the river bed.

Jamahari said continuous erosion of the river banks had damaged jetties and causing many palm trees in the area to disappear.