Joseph (second left) with Sarapung JKKK (second right) and bomba taking picture at Sarapung.
Aftermath of Sarapung.
PENAMPANG : – The Moyog Community Development Unit has urged that the river at Kampung Sarapung, which was hit by a severe landslide more than a week ago, be widened and deepened to prevent a similar disaster from recurring.
UPPM leader Joseph Suleiman said that officials from several ministries and agencies have been brought to see potential landslide sites there a few days after the incident that killed an elderly man.
“I brought one of the ministries Permanent Secretary at Moyog river to check the bottle neck and later to Kg Kubong in Sarapung to oversee the two rivers that used to spilled over to the houses around there.
“I suggested to them to widen the river until it connects to the Pan Borneo’s project drainage,” he said, referring to the construction of the five-kilometer Pan Borneo highway in Kampung Kolopis.
Joseph also suggested that the river in several nearby villages that were hit by severe flooding for almost a week, such as Soboong, Boliga and Tindai, to be immediately cleaned.
“At the same time, I also asked that the Sarapung river to be upgraded and its flow to be improved,” he said.
According to Joseph, he already discussed with the JKKK and the residents in the village about the short-term solution and they are all agreed that they must do gotong-royong together to clean the river and its surrounding areas.
“Actually, I have proposed to the Sabah Irrigation and Drainage Department (JPS) to clean and upgrade the Sarapung river since 2022. I also made the same proposal for the nearby Kogopon-Talantang-Takad river. But they told me to produce a working paper proposal.”
“I also noticed that the worst disaster in Moyog is centered on the Pogunon-Sarapung-Madsiang route. This has been proven after the recent four days of continuous rain where many places here were destroyed due to the impact of landslides from the hills.
“It was a massive landslide that affected several hills, roads, rivers and houses. Several small bridges were also damaged,” he said.
He said the Sarapung landslide that killed an elderly man and injured a woman was very sad.
The elderly man was the first victim buried in a mudslide in the worst disaster to hit Penampang so far. It was the first death out of 13 landslide victims in Penampang, Inanam and Papar.
In addition to the death, a house in the same village was also almost submerged by mud that collapsed from the same hill.
According to Joseph, the situation could have been even worse if the deceased’s son had not been able to save his mother and another nephew in the incident that happened quickly on Sept 11 last week.
“This is a real tragedy. In general, what all Penampang residents want is for the federal government to immediately implement the two flood mitigation plans, namely Packages 2 and 4.
“We hope the federal government can help us in Moyog this time around by paying compensation to the affected families and repairing damage to houses, hillsides, roads, drains, water pipes, cars, bridges, fish ponds and more,” he said.
Joseph said the current government must put their care and concern into practise towards the people and what is happening and not just be good at making promises. They must put aside their political beliefs differences.
For 62 years of the federal government’s rule, he said, it has never cared about the welfare of the people of Penampang.
“In the past, they only paid compensation for damage and losses caused by the disaster and a sum of RM1,000. But it was just candy. It cannot heal what their losses,” he said urging the government to be fair to the people of Moyog.
“We need about half a billion to repair all the damage that has occurred. It is now or never. What all the people of Penampang want is for the federal government to immediately implement the two flood mitigation plans, namely Packages 2 and 4.”
Joseph reminded the relevant parties including the Sabah Irrigation and Drainage Department (JPS) to expedite the implementation of Packages 2 and 4 to upgrade the Pan Borneo drainage route and flow in Sarapung.
Packages 2 and 4 are in the Moyog River Flood Mitigation Development Plan which is expected to be implemented in the 13th RMK.
This project is very important to raise the level of the river with the aim of preventing future floods.