SRB to monitor express boats in Sibu as school holidays approach

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File photo shows passengers gather at one of the jetties at the riverfront terminal in Sibu before boarding the express boat.

File photo shows passengers gather at one of the jetties at the riverfront terminal in Sibu before boarding the express boat.

SIBU: Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) will be conducting an operation from Nov 25 to 27, in view of the expected surge in passenger volume during the coming school holidays.

In disclosing this yesterday, SRB assistant controller (region II) Christopher Chan said the board would be working with other enforcement agencies during the operation.

“The upriver routes are expected to be busier than those downriver, which has better road connectivity. River blocks are conducted regularly, even during non-festive or non-holiday seasons to prevent overloading of boats.

“However, more (river blocks) would be set up along the routes between Sibu and Kapit during festive and holiday seasons,” he told The Borneo Post here when asked on SRB’s preparations to handle a possible surge in passenger volume during the school holidays from Nov 25 to Dec 31.

On the expected passengers’ volume, Chan believed that it would not be anything near that recorded during Gawai Dayak celebration where at its peak, about 8,000 passengers passed through the express boat terminal here daily.

He anticipated the number of passengers could reach between 3,000 and 4,000 during the school holidays – higher than the usual volume.

However, he expected a sudden spike on passengers’ volume in days before Christmas and the beginning of the new school term.

According to SRB statistics, the Sibu Express Boat Terminal handled 3,621 passengers between Nov 18 and 20 this year.

From that figure, arrivals numbered at 2,022, while departures at 1,599.