Aerial view of the affected area in the Seng Ling dumpsite.
SIBU: Firemen backed by Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) staff were seen at the Seng Ling dumpsite this morning as they worked to put out the numerous underground fires affecting the area.
The affected site had to be dug up to expose the fires before the firefighters could being their work, utilising relay pumping and two nozzles with water sourced from a nearby fire hydrant.
SMC has also provided two water tankers and five workers to assist the firemen.
Meanwhile, SMC chairman Clarence Ting in a Facebook post said the smoke has resurfaced, which meant the fire was still raging.
“It will take a while before this stubborn fire can be extinguished,” Ting said.
For the record, the landfill at Seng Ling Road here was officially closed in April this year, after having served its purpose over the last 18 years.
A trench was dug across the access road to the landfill to stop vehicles from entering the area.
It was reported that in early March this year, a total of 32 people, including six children from 11 families, squatting at an abandoned landfill at Seng Ling Road here were made homeless after the landfill caught fire.
It was also reported back in September 2011 that then SMC chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King had said the landfill at Seng Ling Road might continue to burn for a fortnight as the fire had reached the peat soil underneath where waste had accumulated for years.
Tiong had said then fire had broken out twice in Seng Ling landfill at Oya Road, with the previous one in 2005.
It was further reported that since its creation in 2001, the landfill had been frequented by scavengers, a number of whom have become squatters there.