KUCHING: A 750-metre long retaining wall at Pantai Alit in the coastal area of Kabong, Betong Division, has collapsed even before the project gets to be completed.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?: The collapsed wall at Pantai Alit, Kabong.
Two longhouses, namely Rumah Ek and Rumah Beti, are now said to be in danger of being washed away by the waves from South China Sea as they are not protected by the wall.
PKR Betong branch vice chairman Lau Kieng Chai, who led a visit to the area recently, said there was a big possibility of strong waves due to the current monsoon season.
He even claimed that several individual houses near the longhouses had been damaged by the waves and hoped the relevant authorities would take immediate action, especially in repairing the wall and checking on the progress of the project which is said to cost in the region of RM3.2 million.
Rumah Ek has 18 family-door while Rumah Beti has 12, all of them Ibans.
To a question, Lau concurred that these two longhouses were unique as Ibans did not usually build longhouses near the coastline.
He also said the residents there did not want to move out because of the good facilities such as electricity supply and a primary school located nearby.
An area close by at Pantai Tanjung Kembang has been identified as a potential resort, he added.
“The project cost to build the retaining wall was RM3.2 million and yet it collapsed. The authorities should check on this,” he said.
Meanwhile, PKR national Women chief Zuraida Kamaruddin said she was shocked to see the collapsed wall.
She said she had followed the trip to Pantai Alit and was astonished with the situation there. She even took some photographs of the site as proof.
She even remarked that the place could be worse than a tsunami-hit area if urgent action was not taken.