KUCHING: Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin recently urged the Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) to ensure that all telemetry stations are functioning well, especially during the rainy season.
SRB has a total of 22 telemetry stations which operate daily in the Sarawak River catchment area. On Thursday, Lee visited the Siniawan Telemetry Station in Bau to make sure that all of its facilities, systems and equipment function and operate properly.
During his visit, he was briefed on the function and system of the telemetry station by Benjamin Chang Bui Haw, hydrology officer from Kuching Barrage Management Sdn Bhd.
Whenever the river water reaches dangerous levels, the station will activate its siren to warn Siniawan residents on the likeliness of a flood.
Due to the geographical location of Siniawan located at the banks of the Sarawak River, if it was to rain continuously for seven days in Kuching, Siniawan will be the first area flooded.
Lee spoke with the locals and explained to them about the function of the telemetry station and the alarm warning system. He advised the community to be alert towards the sound of the siren and to be well prepared logistically if the flood would strike.
He also urged SRB to hold more awareness programmes and campaigns especially on the function of the telemetry station for residents living around it. The purpose of such awareness programmes is to educate and guide locals on the necessary actions that are needed if the siren alarm is activated.
Telemetry stations purpose and function:
• To collect data on the amount of rainfall and water level measurements at the Sarawak River catchment area.
This data indicates the actual situation which is sent back to the Kuching Barrage operation control room every 30 minutes. The data is then used by the operator to make the following decisions and actions – this determines the ship lock opening time and the amount of water that needs to be drained into the sea.
• To give an early warning to residents living in flood-risk areas by activating the alarm system remotely at the Barrage control room when there is a continuous increase in water level until it reaches a flood-risk level.
To date, all telemetry stations in Sarawak are solar-powered and are functioning well. It has also been proposed that these telemetry stations are to be upgraded to better manage and control the risk of flooding in the future.
Also present were Transport Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Buckland Bangik, Transport Ministry senior officer Teo Siew Ann, SRB acting controller Lt Col Ding Tiew Wong, SRB assistant controller (Barrage & Shiplock) Jerry Liew Tze Sieng, and other officers from the Transport Ministry and SRB.
