Sungai Merah : Island at river mouth disrupts drainage

An island has formed at the mouth of Seduan River in Sungei Merah, disrupting the drainage system that flushes the water out into the main Rejang River.

The island, measuring 400 by 200 metres, has turned the river mouth into a bottle neck, and water flowing out takes a left turn around the island before entering the Rejang River.

The island’s formation is caused by erosion of the river that results in tonnes of loose soil being brought down from the upper reaches of the Rejang.

A resident of Sungei Merah told The Borneo Post yesterday that there is a whirlpool where Seduan and Rejang Rivers meet.

“Soil has deposited at the mouth where the river current weakens after hitting the whirlpool.”

A contractor said the island was made of mud brought down by the river and had little commercial value.

“We’ve never been interested to get the soil from the island. Grasses have grown there now.”

Although the contractors are not interested in the island, the authorities are not sitting there doing nothing.

Rajang Port Authority and Public Works Department have cleared the blockage in the river several times in the last two years, but more soil would be quickly deposited to reform the island.

“The island has grown by the day,” noted the resident, saying that he had watched it grows in the last four years.

The resident said this was the reason floods had occurred in Seduan, and it had prompted DID to remove the island as a flood mitigation measure.

A source from the DID said a tender had been called for the multi-million ringgit project to be announced later this week.

“This will be the first major river dredging work carried out.”

Several factors had caused the flooding in Seduan in recent years.

Flood experts said deforestation and development in the upper reaches of the Rejang was one.

The fast-paced development at Seduan water catchment areas that stretches to Mile 9, Jalan Oya is another.

On the heavy flooding in Seduan during the Chinese New Year this year, DID said it was caused by unusually heavy rain that was made worst by the king tide.

The DID had told The Borneo Post last February that heavy rain amounting to 180 to 200mm - the equivalent of a month’s rain - poured in just two days.

“Serious flooding followed,” it said.