There are strict guidelines in opening an area for logging, for agriculture development etc. The are specific guideline by both Department of Environment (DOE) and DID. The approval process before a project is approved to undertaken is very stringen and not easy.

There are various physical, biological, socio economic and impact assessment mitigation measures to be precisely look at. And if there is any rivers or catchment in the proposed area, a Hydraulic Load Model and Erosion Modelling or assesment to be undertaken as well.

The impacts should be look at various scenarios such as existing conditions, operating conditions etc etc. and not easy; i’ve been doing these.

The socio economic impact for examples need to adress the potential impacts for the recipients (residents etc)which will tell the damged going to be felt by these local staying there.

I strongly belive it’s very cruel to damage peoples’s live and health by doing projects that did not have any mitigating measures like this one in Baram. Basically these people is not taking all the appropriate instruction, no sediment controls etc, no waste collection facilities etc.

The poor residents downstreams is suffering. In Borbeo they have this EPD (Environmental Protection Department?) similar to our DOE and their rules are more stringent than us (if i’m not wrong base on 1 or 2 cases).

But this is not the case here…very sad.

By Sild – Environmentalist

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Drought-stricken rural folk in Sarawak now suffer severe skin problems

By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: Bathing and washing in polluted rivers and streams in drought-stricken rural Sarawak has become a daily ritual for those deprived of fresh water, but it can cause severe skin problems – as some natives have found to their distress.

People living in Long Bangga settlement in Ulu Baram district, some 13 hours journey by timber road from Miri, have reportedly suffered skin ailments which they have never encountered before.

Penan youth Pesley Mishak, who was recently sent to Miri Hospital for urgent treatment after his skin and flesh started peeling off, said he had been bathing in a river near his settlement since June because their underground wells had dried up.

“The river is very shallow and the water very muddy because of the dry weather. Logging activities upstream had resulted in a lot of mud and sand flowing into the river and the water had turned brownish.

“During certain times of the month, the water smells of diesel. We have no choice but to bathe in the river. There is no more ground water as it had not rained for weeks,’’ he added.

Pain and suffering: Pesley showing his skin after bathing in what used to be a clean flowing river near his home in Ulu Baram. With him at the Miri Hospital are his father Mishak and mother Guong Lusan

Pesley, 22, was hospitalised for a month and was in great pain as even the soles of his feet were covered in sores.

His raw skins caused him pain whenever he tried to move his body or walk.

His father Mishak Kew said there were numerous river tributaries in Long Bangga that were also badly polluted.

“Every one of them looks like river of mud. The water is shallow and thick with mud and sand.

“We have no choice but to use it for bathing and washing, but not for cooking or drinking,” he said.

Mishak claimed that many others in Long Bangga village also suffered the same skin problems as his son.

In the meantime, firemen were quite successful in dousing the peat fires at the Sarawak-Brunei border.

It was less hazy over Miri yesterday, but the weather remained extremely hot and dry.

Source : TheStar

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