Salvage efforts postponed

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FUTILE EFFORT: Rescue team members on board the tugboat Grand Line No. 2 as they attempted to lift the express boat for the final time yesterday.

BELAGA: Efforts to salvage the sunken express boat Kawan Mas at Giam Bungan, Sungai Rajang here will be postponed until crane service is available.

Belaga police chief DSP Bakar Sebau told reporters at the scene that there will be no operation today as no crane is available here and the Gawai Dayak break has left most crane operators elsewhere unavailable.

“With the agreement made between the Belaga assemblyman Liwan Lagang and Bomba (Fire and Rescue Department) state deputy director Mohd Ali Bahudin, we will postpone the operation until we get the crane service which will be announced in due course,” he said.

The fourth day of the operation yesterday had to be called off around 4pm.

“Our operat ion today was unsuccessful, with many obstacles in our way, for example the strong river current, tugboat engine overheated, and one of its engines broke down.

At the same time, with zero visibility (for the divers).

“Thus we have to find other alternatives.  The alternative that we think might work is by using a crane service to pull the sunken express boat,” he said.

Bakar stressed the team would fi nd the best way to get the crane service, which he hoped would be by Monday.

“What we have done today – our divers have secured the boat with a sign to identify the actual location of the boat.”

Liwan said they wi l l get assistance from the state operations room to overcome the shortage of equipment at the site.

He added: “I am very satisfi ed with the efforts of the rescuers, they have tried their very best but nature got the better of us.

” Meanwhile, Hulu Rajang MP Wilson Ugak Kumbong said he disbursed the special funds to 85 of the victims yesterday and would leave the rest to his party workers to distribute to them during Gawai.

“They are very thankful to the BN government for its thoughts and concerns.

In fact some of them have no money for Gawai and with the RM500 they are now able to buy some food,” said Ugak.

He also thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as well as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun and Belaga assemblyman Liwan Lagang for touch-point funding.

On Thursday, Entulu had instructed Ugak to distribute the money to the 185 survivors of the express boat.

Most of the victims are from Pelagus.