Menteri Perancangan dan Pengurusan Sumber II, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan berkata kerajaan mengambil keputusan untuk tidak menghentikan kerja-kerja penakungan air walaupun paras air sungai itu ketika ini semakin cetek, terutama di bahagian hulu.
Awang Tengah menjelaskan, kerajaan mengambil masa yang lama sebelum membuat keputusan untuk memulakan kerja-kerja penakungan air di Empangan Bakun yang bermula pada 13 Oktober lalu.
“Mengikut kajian sebelumnya, kerajaan mengandaikan ketika ini musim hujan, tetapi apa yang berlaku adalah sebaiknya. Ini adalah di luar jangkaan kita semua,” katanya kepada pemberita ketika ditemui di Rumah Rehat Song di sini, pagi semalam.
“Kita berharap agar hujan turun untuk mengelakkan keadaan menjadi lebih buruk.
“Tetapi kita akan tetap melepaskan air dari takungan dari semasa ke semasa untuk mengelakkan keadaan menjadi bertambah buruk,” tambah beliau lagi.
Beliau berkata sejumlah air juga telah dilepaskan daripada Empangan Bakun itu bagi mengekalkan paras di Sungai Rajang kepada 43 aras laut purata (MSL).
“Paras terendah yang dicatatkan adalah di antara Kapit dan Belaga iaitu pada 41 MSL. Walaupun bot ekspres dan bot kargo tidak dapat mudik ke Belaga namun sungai itu masih dapat dilalui oleh perahu,” katanya.
Awang Tengah berkata kerajaan negeri juga akan mendapatkan bantuan daripada kontraktor dan sektor swasta jika keadaan memerlukan.
Proses penakungan itu dijangka mengambil masa tujuh bulan dan dua minggu bagi mencapai paras ketinggian yang dikehendaki iaitu setinggi bangunan 44 tingkat meliputi kawasan seluas 69,000 hektar.
Sebelum itu, Residen Kapit, Dahim Nadot ketika ditemui untuk mengulas perkara yang sama, berkata kawasan yang paling teruk terjejas ialah dari kawasan Merit hingga ke hulu (ke pekan Belaga).
Katanya masalah paras sungai yang cetek dan deras ini telah menjejaskan perkhidmatan pengangkutan.
“Keadaan menyebabkan kos pengangkutan untuk menghantar bekalan makanan ke sekolah di kawasan yang terjejas telah meningkat tiga kali ganda berbanding waktu biasa,” katanya.
Tambahnya, kos ini meningkat kerana penghantaran perlu dilakukan melalui jalan kem pembalakan disebabkan bot ekspres tidak dapat beroperasi dan sukar untuk melalui beberapa bahagian terutama kawasan yang berjeram berikutan air Sungai Rajang yang semakin cetek.
Dahim berkata, pihaknya dalam proses menyiapkan laporan untuk memaklumkan kepada Jawatankuasa Bencana Alam Negeri tentang kesusahan yang dialami oleh penduduk yang berada di kawasan yang terjejas.
Sementara itu, dalam perkembangan lain, Awang Tengah berkata kajian yang lebih lanjut akan diadakan untuk mengetahui punca sebenar yang menyebabkan berlakunya kejadian himpunan kayu hanyut di sungai yang sama pada 7 Oktober lepas.
“Kajian awal kita menunjukkan hujan lebat merupakan antara sebab utama yang menyebabkan berlakunya kejadian tanah runtuh dan seterusnya mencetuskan fenomena tersebut.
“Namun kita menunggu hasil kajian yang lebih terperinci yang sedang dilakukan pada masa ini,” katanya.
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Nature’s wrath or man’s folly?
by James Ling. Posted on October 27, 2010, Wednesday
Kapit folk wondering why debris, dry spell and drying river all come at the same time
KAPIT: The people in the street and in the coffee shops seem to share one common topic of conversation.
DRY SPELL: One of the many longhouses along Rajang River. This picture was taken at the foot of the notorious Pelagus Rapids.
They all bemoan the string of events — debris, dry spell, frequent blackout or haze — that seem to befall the people in this division in a row.
According to a source from the Metrological Department, Kapit is expected to experience prolonged drought from October until March next year although this period has been known to be the monsoon season.
This piece of news may bring a sigh of relief to Sibu people because they would not face flash floods.
On Oct 7, debris that originated from Sungai Melatai, a tributary of Baleh River brought river transportation to a complete standstill for two days as rivers were clogged by wood debris and vegetation due to massive landslides along both banks of Melatai. It covered a distance of some 30 kilometres.
Barely a week later, on Oct 13, the impoundment of Bakun Dam added salt to injury when the water level at Rajang River drastically fell by more than six metres or 20 feet.
As the low water level hampered boat navigation along this vital link between Kapit and Belaga and Belaga to Bakun, express boats had to suspend operation, causing great difficulty to commuters.
Last weekend, when Kapit Lions Club conducted a two-day health awareness community project with Malaysian Red Crescent and Kapit Health Department at Belaga they had to fork out RM7,000 instead of the usual fare of RM2,000 as they were forced to take an alternative route from Kapit to Sibu, Bintulu and Belaga which took them three days.
In the absence of road and air connectivity, Kapit is only accessible by river transport.
Apart from the hazard caused to transportation, the immediate effect on the business community here is obvious.
A peep into a coffee shop reveals that there are fewer customers and that prices of food and drinks have gone up.
A glass of ‘Teh O’ now costs RM1.40, up by 20 sens from RM1.20 and a plate of noodles also rose by 20 sens to RM3.20.
A rubber taper from Rumah Engkahong, Sungai Menuan lamented that it was ‘back breaking’ to bring his farm produce to sell in the town.
“Yes, the price of rubber is very attractive, I can tap up to 20 kilos a day but transport is a problem now. The longboat journey from my longhouse to Kapit which used to take only 45 minutes now takes half a day,” he said.
A businessman in his fifties who only wished to be identified as Tay said that it was unusual for the water level in Rajang River to be so low.
He attributed this to the impoundment of Bakun Dam.
Bidan from Rumah Kanyan at ‘Kaki Wong Mekey’ was outraged that the government did not anticipate the problem and did not put in place any contingency plan.
“We support the government’s development plan but not to the extent of causing suffering to the local people. Now our transport link is cut. The government should build a road to link us to the outside world,” he lamented.
Pointing to the low water level in front of his longhouse, he said fish and other aquatic life were also gone.
A logging camp sub-contractor Ah Yap when approached said up in the rural areas the river tributaries had run dry making it difficult for longboats to go through.
The trip from Kapit to SK Nanga Entaroh which used to take only about three hours by longboat now takes almost a day, he complained.
Tuai Rumah Gelimai from Sungai Metah, Nanga Merit who used to catch Ikan Patin and Ikan Tapa in big quantities said there was not much around as most of them had made their way upriver.
Reports received from Nanga Merit said that the river water had turned smelly and had affected several schools there.
Food contractors also face difficulty in sending supplies to rural schools.
When contacted yesterday morning, Kapit Resident Dahim Nadot said he was monitoring the situation closely.
“We’re sending a team from Resident’s Office, Education, Health and Information departments to the ground. We received all sorts of reports but we need to verify them,” he said.
Dahim was seen leaving Kapit to Sibu en route to Belaga through Bintulu and to Lusong Laku.
Today, with officials from Belaga District Office and Social Welfare Department, he will look into the request by the Penans of Lusong Laku for rice supply and other assistance.
Lusong Laku is a nine-hour journey through a timber road from Bintulu.
