BEM S’wak calls on state govt to tackle erosion along Lawas riverbank
MIRI: The Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) Sarawak is calling upon the Sarawak government to tackle erosion problems along the Lawas riverbank, which is causing damage to the infrastructure of the Malaysia Evangelical Theological Seminary (Mets) at Lawas Mission Campus.
BEM Sarawak president Reverend Bina Agong said the erosion had been going on for some time, and was slowly destroying the campus’ land, buildings and other infrastructures.
“The erosion has already affected the first seminary’s church that was built in the early 1960, two student’s hostels, a football field, a medical clinic building and a substantial section of the seminary lands upon which these buildings were constructed.
“One existing hostel is now standing in a dangerous and precarious situation, getting nearer to the edge of the bank of the Lawas River due to the ongoing erosion. Because of the erosion, about four to five acres of the seminary land are now totally lost, having been washed away into the Lawas River,” he said in a recent statement.
Bina noted that the medical clinic was the first clinic in Lawas that was run by the BEM missionary doctors and nurses, until the government built its own clinic.
“Therefore, we wish to humbly urge the government and relevant agencies to immediately look into the problems, and urgently provide assistance to prevent further erosion from destroying the Lawas riverbank,” said Bina.
He also appealed to the government to assist in building the infrastructures, including constructing a waterfront along the bank of Lawas River leading to the seminary land, as means to stop the erosion from becoming worse.
He believed that failure to address this situation in time could result in the nearby houses and buildings near the riverbank being washed away soon.