SARAWAK Deputy Chief Minister James Masing wants the customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) post at Tapak Megah in Baleh to be operational as soon as possible.

This is important to stem the daily illegal crossing and smuggling of subsidised goods like petrol, rice and sugar, he said in a statement issued by his office today.

The post is at the headwaters of the Rajang River, in a sparsely populated part of Sarawak, and is just 20km from the border with Kalimantan, Indonesia.

On the opposite side of the border, also about 20km away, is the Indonesian town of Long Nawang, whose population is roughly 5,000.

“Bearing this in mind, the establishment of the CIQ in Tapak Megah can control and reduce the entry of illegal immigrants into Sarawak,” Masing said.

This was among the topics Masing discussed with the new brigade commander of the Sarawak General Operations Force (GOF), SAC Mancha Ata, today.

Masing heads a security sub-committee of the state disaster management committee and is tasked with plugging the highly porous 1,000km-long Sarawak – Kalimantan border to stop cross-border transmission of Covid-19.

He and Mancha discussed border areas close to the state’s three mammoth hydroelectric dams – Bakun, Murum and Baleh.

They also discussed the relocation of a small group of ethnic Kenyahs who will be displaced by the 1,285Mw Baleh hydroelectric dam project.

The group currently resides at Long Singut and a place called Pandora Camp along the Baleh River.

Long Singut and Pandora Camp will be inundated when the filling of the dam’s reservoir takes place.

Masing said the existing logging road that connects Long Singut to a timber camp called Mantan Camp will have to be upgraded to enable better movements of the displaced Kenyahs to their earmarked resettlement area in Long Busang.

From Long Busang, they could easily reach Belaga town via the Bakun dam. – August 6, 2020.