INTERMITTENT heavy rain since Sunday left some villages along the Baram River under a metre of water, temporarily cutting access to the road at the Baram town of Long Lama—about 143km from Miri—and placing areas considered “high risk” under a flood watch. 

Another Baram village supposedly under one metre of water was Long Bemang, about 172km from Miri. The only way to reach it would be via a maze of slippery, treacherous logging roads. Long Bemang, on average, reportedly experiences seven floods in a year. 

The Civil Defence Department in Long Lama said a heavy rain on Sunday had threatened a number of villages there. 

The department said approximately 300m of Jalan Layang Layang Kubur Cina - from the Long Lama bridge roundabout to the town - was not passable to traffic as it was under a metre of water. 

The water was reportedly receding and the department said their last reading showed that the water was now only 0.61m over the road. 

Sarawak PKR, citing studies made by environmental experts, said the overflowing of the Baram River, the state’s second longest river, was due to deforestation caused by logging activities and land clearing for plantations. 

They said with the soil cover gone, the heavy rains had washed the soil into the river. 

“The river became shallow and this caused the frequent floods along the river,” PKR Sarawak deputy chairman Abun Sui Anyit said, as he called on the state government and the timber and plantation companies to look for a solution to end the frequent flooding once and for all. 

After reaping billions of profits, Abun said the government and the big companies could not plead innocence and wash their hands of the problem. – September 13, 2022.