Lee (standing) addressing participants of the meeting including those who attended virtually.
MIRI (Sept 18): Minister-in-charge of Miri Division Disaster Management Committee (MDDMC), Datuk Lee Kim Shin calls on Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to work together with relevant authorities in clearing the Lutong River to prevent flooding.
In a press statement yesterday, Lee said part of Lutong River is located within Petronas restricted area, making it difficult for clearing and dredging work to be carried out there by the authority concerned.
Therefore, he hoped the management of Petronas Carigali can work with the relevant agencies to immediately resolve the matter as the monsoon season is fast approaching.
Lee who is also the Minister of Transport made the request when chairing a meeting on ‘Sarawak Asset on Siltation Issue of Lutong River’ at Miri Crude Oil Terminal (MCOT) here today.
During the meeting, a special committee headed by Miri Resident Office was set up to resolve flood problems within Miri district.
Also present were chairman of MDDMC and Acting Miri Resident, Jamalie Bin Busri; Minister of Transport’s permanent secretary, Datu Buckland Bangik; Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) Controller, Peggy Ronin Edin; head of NREB Miri, Joseph Uyo; Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) Assistant Controller (Enforcement), Lt. Col. Ding Tiew Wong; Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) Divisional Engineer, Ir Hiew Si Tien; Miri City Council (MCC) Engineer, Abdul Rahman Bin Taupek as well as Petronas Senior Manager, Zubaidi Bin Abg. Zamhari and general manager Shamsawi B. Ahmad.
At the meeting, all the agencies present also suggested long term solutions to reduce occurrence of flood in the surrounding areas.
The affected areas were Kampung Senadin Jaya, Kampung Sealine, Kampung Merikan, Jalan Senadin, MCOT, Kampung Damai Jaya, Jalan Maigold, Promin Jaya, Desa Senadin as well as Senadin industrial area which is prone to flood.
The meeting was told that one of the main causes of the flood in the area was siltation of Lutong River.
Lutong River is one of the main channel for water to flow out into the sea for these areas. Each year, the areas mentioned above will be inundated especially during high tide and heavy rain.