Fadillah (center) flanked by Tiong (right) during the meeting in Sibu recently.

SIBU (Nov 7): Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Dato Sri Tiong King Sing is calling for the completion of Sibu riverbed survey work to be expedited as delays would reduce accuracy of data collected.

During the meeting on the progress of the flood mitigation project for Sibu, Tiong has stressed that the priority now is to complete the hydraulic survey report for the Rajang and Igan rivers as soon as possible to obtain accurate data.

In this regard, he thanked Deputy Prime Minister Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof for recognising the urgency of completing the hydraulic report swiftly and offering to assist in securing the RM26 million in funding needed to finalise the remaining survey work.

“Today, I attended a meeting on the progress of the flood mitigation project for Sibu, chaired by Fadillah. We were briefed on the latest reports from the federal Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and its Sibu branch.

“Beyond discussing ways to accelerate the project’s progress, there was a collective agreement on the need for river dredging to effectively reduce the frequency of flash floods in Sibu, so that the residents may finally be free from the constant threat of flooding,” said Tiong.

He said during the meeting, he reiterated that building more pumping stations is a non-starter towards solving the problem.

He said he told the meeting that the priority now is to complete the hydraulic survey report for the Rajang and Igan rivers as soon as possible to obtain accurate data.

“This will allow us to begin the river dredging works, restoring the rivers’ capacity to handle rainfall, which is essential in coping with sudden climate changes,” the Bintulu MP and Dudong assemblyman, said in a statement today.

Tiong found it difficult to understand why the hydraulic report is progressing so slowly.

He stressed that it is important to recognise that if riverbed survey work takes too long, sediment accumulation in the riverbeds will change over time, rendering the collected data outdated.

“I am extremely grateful to Fadillah for recognising the urgency of completing the hydraulic report swiftly and offering to assist in securing the RM26 million in funding needed to finalise the remaining survey work.

“Therefore, the relevant authorities are urged to submit a comprehensive project plan as soon as possible, with the goal of officially completing the hydraulic report by March 2025,” he said.

Tiong also suggested expanding the riverbed survey team to allow multiple teams to conduct surveys simultaneously on different rivers, improving the efficiency of the work.

“After all, Sibu has faced the problem of flash floods for many years, with residents enduring four to five floods each year. It’s truly disheartening for the people to read about government flood prevention measures in the news, only to see no alleviation of the flood issue.”

Furthermore, the sedimentation problem in the Rajang and Igan rivers is worsening, including areas such as Bintangor and Sarikei, where stagnant waters are observed, with the river failing to flow smoothly towards Tanjung Manis, he said.

“If dredging is not undertaken soon, future floods will only become more severe, potentially threatening lives!”