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MIRI – A couple of settlements in the remote Baram district of Sarawak have been cut off from the outside world as a bridge linking the interior communities was swept away by flash floods.
Social activist Willie Kajan told The Vibes that the bridge collapsed recently after days of torrential rain, affecting Long Pilah, Long Miri and a few other villages.
“The villagers of Long Miri have been cut off after the wooden bridge collapsed and was broken apart by swift flash flood waters that overflowed the river tributary there.
“Most of the bridge structure was swept away. The villagers are awaiting help from the authorities to rebuild a new bridge,” he said.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia ground coordinator for Sarawak Jok Jau Evong said Long Miri has about 2,000 villagers.
The bridge near the village was also used by the Long Pilah, Uma Bawang and several other scattered communities nearby.
He added that these homesteads are linked by timber roads and that the wooden bridges could not withstand the flash floods.
“These flash floods have been very frequent in the interior parts since more than a month ago,” he said.
Furthermore, these rural communities are situated around eight hours by timber road from Miri and four hours from Long Lama which is the nearest government district office as well as emergency services such as police.
Jok called on the authorities and the elected representatives to look into the plights of these remote villagers, seeing that the timber roads are the only thing linking the interior folks with the outside world.
Parts of Sarawak are still seeing heavy rain and floods which started in late December last year. – The Vibes, February 12, 2022
Caption: The bridge linking Long Miri settlement and other remote longhouses in interior Baram district in northern Sarawak washed away by flash floods. Pic by social activist Willie Kajan
Pix: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1KlneX-OhfpoUCbZq1nhMSRQTJwdSBEW3