SRB controller William Jinep promoting safety awareness among the children in this photo taken in May this year.
SIBU: The Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) has spent thousands of ringgit on Safety Awareness Campaigns and given out life jackets to many rural communities.
SRB chairman Murni Suhaili said the board would continue to stress on the one passenger-one life jacket policy for open boats in the interest of safety.
“We need to inculcate safety culture among the riverine communities. It is important to wear life jackets even for a short trip in open boats,” Murni, who is Daro assemblyman, emphasised.
He also disclosed that the life jackets were donated by Sarawak Hidro, Nippon Oil, Sarawak Timber Association and Sarawak Forestry Corporation through their corporate social responsibilities (CSR) activities.
“We hope more corporate giants will come forward to donate life jackets for the needy riverine communities.”
Meanwhile, another tragedy occurred just days before Christmas, where a longboat ferrying nine passengers capsized in Batang Rajang near Rh Buyun in Belaga around 7pm on Tuesday, resulting in one dead, three people missing while five others managed to swim to safety.
SRB had issued warnings for longboats to refrain from travelling in bad weather and at night.
This May, the board conducted a safety campaign in Lingga Sri Aman. The core objective was to inculcate a safety culture among the local folk.
There are many longhouses along Sg Strap and Sg Lingga — tributaries of Batang Lupar, where folks rely solely on river transport.