MIRI (Feb 13): The Miri-Marudi road, along the stretch of the lowland pineapple farming areas, has been raised above its original level to prevent another bout of flooding.

With this latest development, the local community could breathe a sigh of relief for now as the stretch of road – also known as ‘Jalan Kebun Nenas’ had often been impassable during floods.

“Alhamdulillah, hopefully things will be made easier,” said Ismail Hameed, a local resident, in sharing the roadbed elevation along the Miri-Marudi stretch on his Facebook post on Tuesday.

“Small vehicles are usually stranded at this stretch during flash floods,” he pointed out.

Recently, a mother who had just had a caesarean delivery was among those trapped in their cars when they were caught in a flood along the stretch of Miri-Marudi road.

Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil, who is also the Marudi assemblyman, had initially called upon the Public Works Department (JKR) to address the frequent flooding issues affecting this low-lying area.