The wawasan team is simply not listening

Although the majority of the people in Sibu agreed that the Rajang river must be dredged to solve the frequent flooding of Sibu, the local SUPP leaders and the authorities concerned are not convinced or simply ignore the plight of the people and announced that dredging is the solution to the problem.

The DAP, the United Chinese Association, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and many other associations are all urging the government to dredge the Rajang river instead of building bunds to shield the town from flood.

The State Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director, Wong Siu Heng, announced that a flood mitigation proposal for Sibu would soon be posted on its website: www.did.sarawak.gov.my.

He said the purpose was to get it reviewed by experts worldwide.

“If you have any questions or doubts regarding the proposal, you are welcome to post your questions and we will try to answer them,” Wong was quoted as having said.

“We also maintain that dredging of the river is not a holistic solution to the problem.”

Wong’s remarks sparked off criticisms from the local branch of Democratic Action Party (DAP).

During a press conference at its office here on Wednesday, its publicity chief, David Wong, was quoted as having said: “Dredging the riverbed will reduce the occurrence of floods here. Water in the river always overflows because the riverbed is shallow after years of silting.”

On Wednesday, Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing was reported to be frustrated by the refusal of the DID director to accept river dredging as a way to mitigate the floods here.

“The siltation has become so serious that it has badly affected the river transport business. If this situation continues to deteriorate, the stretch of the river from Jalan Lanang area to Kapit would burst its banks frequently, flooding the surrounding areas. Why does he look at the RM400 million levee-building project all the time?” Tiong reportedly asked.

Tiong concluded that at the moment there is no need to build levees here because unlike Holland, Sibu is not below sea level.



黃順舸：挖河岸建議呈首長
全面探討5治水方案

updated:2008-05-03 05:19:24 MYT


（詩巫2日訊）砂第二財長拿督斯里黃順舸表示，國陣發展宏願隊伍已收集，且瞭解民眾對治水的意見。宏願隊伍將實行適當的治水方案，其中或將考慮多元化方案，以及將向首席部長反映挖沙疏浚河道的建議。

“近日來，公會、社團及民眾皆發表許多有關治水課題的意見，國陣宏願發展隊伍已收集所有言論，也瞭解人民的意願。人民代議士一定要聽取民意，所謂得民心者得天下。”

黃順舸在交流會上重新解釋治水方案，顧問、專家們討論所得，共有五個治水方案，第一是在上游建水壩，以提防大量水往下遊沖。

“第二是開鑿運河，古晉目前也在探討此方案以解決水患，但在詩巫此方案不可行，因為在哥樂多開鑿一條運河，單是徵收地段的收費就高達2千萬令吉。此外，部分河道將會面臨干涸的窘境。”

也是砂州城市發展及旅遊部長黃順舸是今早在國陣宏願隊伍與詩巫省華人社團聯合會針對治水課題進行對話會時，做出上述表示。

第三個治水方案是上個月提出的建設堤壩。黃順舸表示，在初聞專家們的意見時，他與民眾的反應是一樣的，因此自掏腰包邀請中國南京與上海的水利專家前來鑒定此治水方案的可行性，最終他們的答案是一致的。此方案是當務之急，可以保護詩巫高達80%的民眾。

他續稱，第四項方案是疏浚河道。他說，此方案必須以立方米計算江中所挖掘的積泥體積，而且疏通工程耗資巨大，並且還要考量上游所沖下的水中含沙量。

“除非上游一切伐木活動停止，否則就無法根治淤泥堆積的問題，挖深河床后，淤泥會繼續沉澱。如果一切經濟活動停止，人民生計將受到影響，包括航運業者等，最后將得不償失。”

但黃順舸表示，局部疏浚河道也是一個解決方案，或許在光華、哥樂多及新珠安河一帶淤泥堆積嚴重的地方給予疏通，這也是人民的聲音，不妨一試。他應允華團將向砂首席部長丹斯里泰益瑪目反映，將光華一帶局部挖沙的工作交給華團負責，由華團向有關當局申請，同時決定應該如何進行有效的疏通工作。

他坦言，河床挖出來的淤泥80至90%是無用的爛泥，該丟棄在哪里也應該考量。另外，可能不到3個月時間，上游大水一來，便前功盡棄。

接著他提出第五項方案，就是解決當前的問題，填高詩巫現有的主幹道路。從實打胞到南蘭路，以及所有水患黑區的主要道路提升，以免陸路交通在水患發生時被中斷。

“1963年至2008年期間，詩巫共泛濫23次，因全球氣候改變，近年來詩巫3至4年發生一次水患，甚至有時在一年中會發生兩次以上的水患。詩巫發生的並非是水災，而是水患，只是帶給人民數天的不方便。”

黃順舸說，在收集民意及各造意見后，國陣宏願發展隊伍將與治水顧問專家進行另一輪的探討，以尋求最終的解決方案。