By Ling Hui, Dayak Daily

KUCHING 15 May 2024 - Miri River is among five rivers in Sarawak labelled as ‘polluted’ based on the Water Quality Index (IKA) data in 2023, says Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.

He said the other four polluted rivers are Sungai Kenyana in Mukah, Sungai Penat in Dalat, Batang Matu, and Batang Jemoreng. “In 2023, based on the monitoring of 66 rivers throughout Sarawak, 11 rivers are in the IKA ‘Clean’ category and 50 rivers are in the ‘Moderately Polluted’ category,” he said.

To tackle the pollution at the Miri River due to grey and black waste water, Awang Tengah said the Sarawak government has completed the Phase 1 Centralised Sewerage System Project for Miri in early 2024.

He said the work connecting the system to residential areas, commercial buildings and government offices is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024.

“In preparation for the Phase 2 implementation of this project, ethe Valuation Lab was held last March,” he said in his ministerial winding-up speech in the august House here today.

Awang Tengah, who is also Sarawak Deputy Premier, said the government, through the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MLNG Sdn Bhd, the Department of Environment (DOE) Sarawak,

Bintulu Development Aurhotity (BDA), and Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus to implement river conservation projects within four years. Through this project, he said, baseline data will be collected and monitored monthly to identify trends in the water quality of Sungai Plan in Bintulu.