Urgent action needed to address river bank erosion at Lawas River

An aerial view of the seminary campus, part of which is affected by riverbank erosion.

KUCHING: Urgent action is needed to address ongoing riverbank erosion along the Lawas River in northern Sarawak as it is affecting part of the Borneo Evangelical Mission's (BEM) Malaysia Evangelical Theological Seminary campus, says the denomination.

BEM president Rev Bina Agong said to date, the erosion had washed away the seminary's first church built in the early 1960s, two student hostels, part of the old BEM airfield and a clinic.

He estimated that about 1.5ha to 2ha of the seminary's land had been lost to erosion.

"One existing student hostel is now standing in a precarious situation, getting nearer to the edge of the bank of the Lawas River, due to the ongoing erosion," he said in a statement on Saturday (April 6).

Bina called on the Sarawak Rivers Board, Drainage and Irrigation Department and Land and Survey Department to immediately look into the problem and provide urgent assistance to prevent further erosion of the riverbank.

He also requested the state government to build a waterfront along the Lawas River leading to the seminary campus to prevent further loss of land.

"In addition, we request the government to consider alienating a piece of land to BEM to replace the eroded portion of the seminary's land," he said.

The seminary was established in 1947 by BEM missionaries and currently offers diploma, degree and postgraduate training.

Originally called the Lawas Bible School, its alumni included the late former state minister Datuk Seri Balan Seling and the late former Bukit Mas MP Datuk Racha Umong.