Our proof! Rejang river and Sibu's flood

The photos shown here were taken in 2005 when DAP leaders took a tour of the Rejang river to prove to the government that the siltation of the river is the main cause of the serious flood in Sibu.

The photo shows the depth of the Rejang river, a mere 7 feet deep at the center of the river. The bamboo stick in Wong Ho Leng's hand is proof of the discovery. The DAP chartered a boat in 2005 to prove to the government that the siltation of the Rejang river has caused the river banks to be over-flown so easily and frequently. The situation is getting worst by the year and yet the government is not doing anything about it.

The land in the photo should not be there at all, it was built up by the sand and the siltation caused by erosion and neglect by the authorities. Imagine the effect on the water-flow and the volume it takes away from the Rejang river. This is disastrous!

Behind me is the massive sand bank built-up a few hundred feet from the original river bank. We can see trees and other vegetation on the sand built-up area as well, this will transformed into part of the river bank replacing what is supposed to be part of the river.

Years of neglects and erosion brought by the over deforestation in the up-stream of Rejang river has brought disaster to the river. The people of Sibu are paying for the environmental destruction caused by the government's policies and a few timber conglomerates. The original river bank is almost a kilometer from the presence one.

The photo here shows the sand dunes built-up by the Rejang river's bank because of siltation.The sand dunes the actual river bank, it became part of the land instead of the river!

Are the photos sufficient proof?

Anyone looking at these photos would see for themselves the reason why Sibu is so easily flooded and why the situation is getting worse in the past 7 years. We have published these photos in the press in 2005 and i am sure the SUPP leaders in Sibu know about these, then why the hell they did not act?

Indeed, why didn't they act?

The SUPP simply does not have the political will to stand up for the people of Sibu. We all know that there is a company who obtained the monopoly license to collect royalty from those who excavate sand along the Rejang river here.

I have personally request the SUPP leaders to declare the persons behind the company and why its interest is over-and-above all the 220,000 peoples' in Sibu. But the SUPP leaders did not dare to declare the facts to the people and kept on misleading the people that they are taking steps to mitigate the flood in Sibu.

Where were the expects' reports

The Wawasan team had earlier paid expects from China and Taiwan to come up with a master blueprint of the flood mitigation plan for Sibu. Years had passed without any concrete effort and we have yet seen them published the blue print at all. One professor from Taiwan was reported paid no less than half a million ringgit for her consultation work!

Where is the road ahead for Sibu?

In deep and trouble water, my fellow brothers and sisters!

David Wong

DAP publicity sec.,

16-12-2007