MUKAH: The government through Tellian Assemblyman, Yussibnosh Balo has approved RM700,000 to build an embankment along Mukah River near Masjid Jamek or Kampung Datu Waterfront which is having critical erosion problems.
Yussibnosh when met yesterday said the allocation was approved under the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) and the project will be carried out by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) any time this year.
According to Yussibnosh, the project is necessary to tackle the erosion problem in the area over the years.
In fact, the matter has also been raised by the opposition in the state election in May last year.
Before Yussibnosh was elected as an Assemblyman, people living near the Mukah River banks had also voiced out their concern and fears on the matter but no action was taken by the authorities concerned because they discovered that the erosion was indeed critical.
A government retiree known only as Ahmad said there was a small road at the erosion area.
He said that if no immediate action was taken a few houses in Kampung Datu could collapse and fall into the Mukah River.
“In fact, five families in Kampung Datu have already moved to safer places or build new houses,” he said.