Rajang River is drying up: "partly due the Bakun Dam"

Philip Hi The Star 19 Oct 10;

SIBU: Less than two weeks after the logjam disaster in Rajang River, the country’s longest river is again a cause for concern for people living along its banks.

Express boats have not been able to ply the Sibu-Belaga-Sibu routes since Friday as the river is drying up due to the current dry spell. The only option left for travellers is the gruelling journey on the 190km Bintulu-Bakun road.

Floating pontoons at the Kapit Express Boat Wharf along Khoo Peng Loong Road here are now resting on a muddy river bed.

“This time the water level went down really fast. Just 10 days ago, it almost reached the road level, a drop of more than 2m,” boat skipper Lau Ah Kuok said.

Lau said he believed the drastic change in the water level was partly due to the impoundment of the 205m-high Bakun Dam which began last Wednesday.

The flooding of the dam, which is South-East Asia’s largest, is estimated to take seven months and in the process, would flood 69,000ha of land.

Social activist Wong Meng Chuo, who has a masters degree in Environmental Management from the Imperial College in London, said he was worried that a prolonged drought would pose severe environmental and ecological consequences below Bakun Dam.

Wong said the Rajang River was denied one-third of the water source with the impoundment of the dam.

“Firstly, river navigation in some areas will stop due to low water. Secondly, salty water from the ocean would come up to as far as Sibu. Thirdly, marine and river life will be affected,” Wong pointed out.

He explained that with less water in the river, there would be less oxygen which could cause some species of fish to die. Wong added there could also be more landslides along the riverbanks as the soil structure would be different.

He said it was unlikely that the impoundment of the dam would stop because it would incur a loss of RM330,000 per day to do so.

The low water level is also a cause for concern for the RV Orient Pandaw, the only cruise ship here.

“If the dry weather continues, I am worried our ship would have difficulties navigating near the Pelagus rapids,” the ship’s purser Neville Joseph said, adding that October to December were peak seasons with an average of 40 passengers per trip.

Durin vegetable farmer Kong Chiek Wak is worried the prolonged dry weather will seriously affect his vegetables.

“We only have a small water pump. It would be difficult to pump water from the Rajang for farm use if the water level is too low,” Kong explained.

The low water level will also affect the transportation of logs by barges and cargo boats from Kapit-Baleh areas to the sawmills in Sibu or for export through Tanjung Manis.

Sibu Water Board general manager Daniel Wong said he was monitoring the situation closely.

“The water supply in Sibu is normal and there is no cause for alarm now,” he said.

At about 4.30pm yesterday, heavy rain fell for about an hour on Sibu after a dry week.

Low level raises concern over water quality
The Star 20 Oct 10;

SIBU: The one-hour downpour on Monday afternoon here did not raise the level of Rajang river but it remains to be seen whether the low water level is caused by the impoundment of the Bakun dam or due to the dry weather.

Sibu Drainage and Irrigation Department chief engineer Ting Sing Kwong said he believed the impoundment of Bakun dam last week had affected the water level in Sibu.

“There was some effect but the low water level in Sibu is mainly due to the dry weather,” Ting said, adding that it was more acute in the upper Rajang such as in Kanowit, Julau, Song, Kapit and Belaga.

Ting said that between Oct 13 and 17, the water level had dropped by between one and 3m in these towns in the upper Rajang.

He also said sea water could not reach Sibu. Past records showed that the sea water could reach as far as Tg Kunyit, which was about half an hour by road from Sibu.

Former Sibu municipal councillor Dr Gregory Hii, who holds a PhD in chemistry, argued that the water quality in the Rajang would deteriorate due to the reduced amount of water flowing down river.

“If waste water from settlements like Kanowit, Song and Kapit continue to be discharged into the Rajang, the degree of contamination down river will increase,” he said.

Hii added that the slower movement of the water would also cause more sedimentation and siltation, which in turn would affect marine life and river transportation.

Rajang being choked to death
Vanes Devindran The Star 20 Oct 10;

THERE is a saying that when the mighty Rajang cries, everyone will feel its pain.

Locals say this is because come the monsoon season, the Rajang river will burst its banks, destroying crops and crippling transportation for thousands.

Life will basically grind to a halt.

When this happens, there’s nothing anyone can do but wait for her to calm down.

Located northwest of Borneo, the longest river in Malaysia flows from the Irian Mountains for about 563km to the South China Sea.

A large population in the central region depends on the Rajang and its tributaries in one way or another.

Those from Sibu still remember the river’s bountiful harvest of freshwater fish like patin and lulong, which are rare these days.

For people living in the interior, the bends, curves and forks along the Rajang are their addresses.

There are also many legends and folklore surrounding the Rajang.

Many towns have sprouted along the river banks, the biggest of which is Sibu with a population of 257,000 people.

For generations, people have been tapping its resources.

Then, 14 years ago, the government decided to tap the river with the construction of the Bakun hydro-electric dam on Balui River, one of Rajang’s tributaries.

The project meant that hundreds of acres of land had to be cleared of vegetation. It was a windfall of sorts for timber companies.

Last week, the dam started its impoundment.

The effects were slowly seen and felt through the changes in Rajang’s appearance. The river water became murky due to siltation, reducing fish stock and destroying other marine life.

Just over a week ago, the goings-on on Rajang’s banks came to a head when 50km of logs and debris jammed the river.

Described as an “environmental disaster” and dubbed the “Rajang logjam disaster”, it made headlines worldwide.

Although the logjam cleared up within a few days, many demanded ans­wers as to how it could have taken place. Irresponsible logging acti­vity upriver was blamed.

Hardly had the dust settled, Rajang suffered another blow. It was reportedly “shrinking” because of the dry weather, and some say, the impoundment of the dam.

There is no denying that human activities are taking their toll on the river and the last thing Sarawakians want is to have a dead river in their state.

Perhaps it’s time that an agency is established to ensure the Rajang continues to be the pride of the state and the country.

At the moment, the Sarawak Rivers Board is the agency that handles the state’s rivers, a gargantuan task considering the number of rivers in the state.

As such, conservation of the river might not be the best. There are those who feel the agencies, particularly those handling the environment, are not doing their jobs.

Though it is agreed that environmental conservation is a joint responsibility, the new agency could be a focal point to coordinate the tasks, at least where the Rajang is concerned.

The agency’s team should be familiar with Rajang’s every meander and be committed to sustaining it without fear or favour.

For this, the team could be made up of people from the community, experts on rivers and the environment, and perhaps the media, too.

And for the team to be effective, it has to be given muscle to allow stringent enforcement of laws.

Educating the community remains a pivotal point in protecting the Rajang. The people, particularly the youth, should be made aware of their responsibilities and actions.

Obviously, more needs to be done for the Rajang. Things are happening for a reason. The mighty Rajang is crying out for help.

But is anybody listening?

Two days of heavy rain puts riverine traffic as it used to be
The Star 22 Oct 10;

SIBU: The water level in Rajang River is back to normal following heavy rain in the past two days.

Earlier this week, there were worries that the low water level caused by the sudden drought and the impoundment of the Bakun Dam would cripple riverine traffic.

The wharf here was a hive of activity yesterday with express boats plying the Sibu — Kapit route, Matu to Daro, Song, Kanowit and vice versa in full swing.

Sibu-Kapit Express Boat Association chairman Ting Chu Won was optimistic that the drought was over and everything was back to normal.

“The water level has risen in the last two days due to heavy rain in the Upper Rajang and in this town. We have no problem now in operating our business as usual.

“However the water level in Belaga is still low and inaccessible by big boats. Hopefully, with more rain in the next few days, the situation there will be back to normal, too” he said.

The only problem express boat operators were now facing was the wood debris washed down during the Oct 7 logjam. “Most of the debris are washed down to sea but there is still some on the riverbed.

“During the drought, the debris caused a major problem as the express boat propellers hit them causing damage and danger to the passengers,” Ting said, adding that some of the operators suffered huge losses.