THE Sarawak Disaster Management Committee has started stockpiling bottled drinking water for distribution to rural communities as temperatures soar.

Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said his area is one of those districts experiencing high temperatures now.

“I was at a community event in Ulu Baram yesterday. The temperature was high. We still have short spells of rain on and off but the ground temperature remains at a high level.

“The district-level Disaster Management Committee has stockpiled bottled drinking water. We have distributed them to numerous rural populated areas.

“We are fully prepared for the onset of the drought,” he said today.

A social activist had two days ago said that the state authorities must draw up treated water supply contingency plans, not just for drinking and cooking, but also for bathing and washing, for the million-plus remote population in rural Sarawak as the drought looks set to hit much earlier than normal.

Temperatures in Baram and Mukah districts in the interior of northern and central Sarawak have hit the 37°C mark for the past week.

Baram social activist Willie Kajan said the heat is getting intense in the rural regions.

“It is getting very hot and dry even though it is only April.

“I saw from Meteorological Department figures that the 37°C mark was already recorded and that Alert 1 had been issued.

“This sort of heat is usually felt in July or August, but now even in April, we can feel the intense heat.

“This is a warning sign of the possible onset of a drought.

“The state water supply authorities must put in place contingency plans now to help those in remote settlements who are running out of clean water,” he said.

Starting on March 20, huge forest fires have reportedly been raging in dozens of hectares of land near the Sarawak-Brunei border.

What had triggered that latest round of wildfires is still unclear – whether it was deliberate open burning of agricultural wastes or the dry spell.

On February 27, it was reported that some 35 cases of wildfires were recorded in Sarawak over the past week since February 20.

Northern Sarawak is notorious for annual fires and haze, with Miri district being one of the worst-hit areas. – April 14, 2024.