SANTUBONG: Pantai Damai assemblyman Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi hoped the government would ensure that the Sg Salak flood mitigation channel project would not adversely affect the ecosystem of the surrounding fishing areas.
Although saying that the mitigation project would only bring good to the people, he hoped that further studies could be done so that the project could be more sustainable to avoid disrupting the ecosystem and ruin Sg Salak as a fishing sanctuary.
“I have highlighted it twice before in the last State Legislative Assembly sitting in November and I will highlight it again. There should be another look into this matter as there are many fishing villages near Sg Salak and fishing is the main economic activity here. In fact, fish, prawn and crab catching activities have become traditional activities for the community.
“The villagers are concerned that the construction of the major flood mitigation channel which would channel high volumes of silt-laden fresh water into one of their key fishing areas in the Salak estuary would bring side effects as it relies on a delicate natural tidal cycle to maintain levels of salinity,” said Dr Abdul Rahman.
He was met by reporters after officiating at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) ‘Determining and Quantifying Threats to Coastal Cetaceans’ workshop at Permai Rainforest Resort here yesterday.
Dr Rahman also mentioned that the building of a bypass to channel water from Sg Sarawak Kiri to Salak river to mitigate flood might, in the long run, affect the population of fishes, prawns and crabs in the estuary.
He stressed that the villagers’ fear was fast becoming a reality as recently they reported to him their dwindling catch. He said he also brought up the situation in one of the seminars organised by Unimas last year and the participants discussed at great length how to control the salinity level of the water.
“We can only hope that the salinity level of Salak river would not be affected badly and that we can control this situation in the future so that it would not disrupt the marine population and the people’s economic activities.”
In his speech earlier, Dr Abdul Rahman stated that he met regularly with fishermen and the inhabitants of coastal fishing villagers throughout his constituency. Although most of them are not well versed in the more academic points of marine science or coastal ecology, he was confident that the fishermen have an inherent understanding of the ecosystem that supports their livelihood.
“They have expressed deep concern over changes they see taking place in their fishing grounds. The fishermen are concerned about shifting sediments that are silting up river-mouths and preventing them from accessing previously rich fishing grounds.
“They are concerned about discharges from housing developments, hotels and shrimp farm, which they feel are polluting their waters and affecting fish stocks.”
The Pantai Damai constituency includes areas encompassed by the Kuching Wetlands National Park, the protected area of Mount Santubong, the borders of Bako National Park and Talang-Satang Marine Park. Being a famous tourist destination, the area also includes about 29 fishing villages, 10 resorts, hotels, homestays, six Dolphin Watch tour operators and other tourist attractions.