MELAKA – Pencemaran Sungai Lereh semakin tidak terkawal susulan 11 lagi aduan dibuat oleh penduduk setempat terutama nelayan sejak November lalu hingga awal bulan ini.

Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Klebang, Datuk Lim Ban Hong berkata, kekerapan pencemaran yang berlaku sebenarnya lebih tinggi, namun tidak dilaporkan kerana berskala kecil.

Beliau berkata, keadaan itu menyebabkan air sungai tersebut berbau busuk dan bewarna hitam serta dipercayai mampu memudaratkan nelayan.

“Para nelayan mendakwa mereka mengalami gatal dan penyakit kulit setelah bersentuhan dengan air sungai tercemar ini. Beberapa kawasan telah disyaki sebagai punca berlakunya masalah ini termasuk sebuah tapak pelupusan di Sungai Udang.

“Saya difahamkan Jabatan Alam Sekitar Melaka telah selesai menganalisa sampel air sungai tetapi butiran lanjut tidak boleh didedahkan. Tindakan undang-undang terhadap pihak terlibat dijangka dibuat dalam masa terdekat,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas meninjau keadaan Sungai Lereh di sini, hari ini.

Sementara itu, Setiausaha Persatuan Komuniti Nelayan Sungai Lereh, Zahnudin Aluwi berkata, pencemaran yang berlaku sejak 2023 sangat menjejaskan sumber pendapatan nelayan.

“Sebelum ini nak tangkap udang galah dan ikan belanak sangat mudah. Tetapi kini jumlahnya semakin berkurangan disebabkan keadaan air yang tidak lagi sesuai untuk ikan bertelur,” ujarnya. – KOSMO! ONLINE

KOTA KINABALU: Hanya tujuh mangsa banjir daripada tiga keluarga masih berlindung di pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) di Beaufort setakat 8 malam ini, berbanding 308 orang daripada 99 keluarga petang tadi.

Sekretariat Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Bencana Negeri Sabah dalam kenyataan memaklumkan mereka berada di PPS Dewan PSP Dun Banir.

"Semua mangsa banjir di PPS Dewan Bisaya, Dewan Residensi Prima dan Dewan Kukut yang dibuka sejak 8 Mac telah dibenarkan pulang ke rumah masing-masing.

"Banjir di 10 kampung terjejas di Beaufort semakin pulih," menurut kenyataan itu. – BERNAMA

JAKARTA: Indonesia is expected to witness a normal dry season in 2025, following a similar pattern to last year, the country's weather agency said on Thursday, even as it highlighted risks of forest fires and drought in some areas.

The dry season will start in most areas in April and is expected to reach its peak in June up until August, the agency's climatology deputy Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan told reporters in a briefing.

"There is no dominant El Nino weather pattern, so this year's dry season prediction is relatively normal, tending to be similar to 2024 and not as dry as 2023," he said.

Indonesia's dry season in 2023 was the most severe since 2019 due to El Nino weather phenomenon that lasted longer than usual, bringing a drought that damaged crops and exacerbated forest fires.

Detailing this year's prediction, the agency said a normal dry season would occur in most areas in Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Papua islands.

However, the dry season will be more severe in some provinces such as North Sumatra, West Borneo, Central Sulawesi, North Maluku, and South Papua, the agency's head Dwikorita Karnawati said.

The agency highlighted the risk of forest fires in northern parts of Sumatra islands and southern parts of Borneo islands in June until August, or during the peak of the dry season.

Drought is also expected in some areas of the eastern parts of Java, Nusa Tenggara and Bali islands in July until September this year, Dwikorita added.

"We urge farmers to adjust cultivation schedules and manage water use well and efficiently," she said.

Heavy rains fell in some parts of Indonesia from January to March, the agency had said. Torrential rain in early March had triggered floods of up to 3-metres in and around Indonesia's capital Jakarta and forced thousands to be evacuated. --REUTERS

KUCHING (March 14): The existing earth drains at Kampung Stutong Iban BDC here will soon be upgraded to concrete drains to speed up water discharge and prevent further soil erosion, said Wilfred Yap.

The Kota Sentosa assemblyman said the project has been approved by the Premier’s Office under the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP), where RM300,000 will be utilised for the upgrading works.

“The village security and development committee (JKKK) headed by village chief Duris Likau had previously approached me to express their concerns of flash floods in their village as the erosion from the earth drains were going from bad to worse and were in danger of collapsing altogether.

“Despite the increase in the number of residents moving into the BDC Stutong area through new housing estates, the earth drains in the village have never been upgraded for the last 20 years,” he said in a statement.

Yap said he along with officers from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Sarawak yesterday visited the site for the drainage upgrading works.

“The visit was specifically arranged by my service centre and the JKKK to identify the critical flash flood areas so that DID, being the appointed implementing agency, can carry out the upgrading drainage works.

“I have also requested for the DID officers to urgently complete the design and specifications of the said drainage upgrading works so that the project can start and be completed as soon as possible to mitigate the inconveniences caused by flash floods,” he said.

He added he would be coordinating with DID to ensure that there will be no delay in the implementation of this RTP project.

“Subsequent RTP drainage upgrading projects are expected in Kampung Stutong Iban BDC in the near future, based on their urgency and through phased implementation to ensure financial adequacy of my annual RTP funding,” said Yap.