KUALA SELANGOR, 20 Dec: The state government has agreed to immediately approve RM1.2 million to deepen the estuary of Sungai Parit 3 in Sungai Burong.
The Chief Minister, Mohamed Azmin Ali, said that the decision was taken to help the group of fishermen in the area who have long struggled in going out to sea.
“After discussing with the Kuala Selangor District Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), we have decided to extend immediate assistance amounting to RM1.2 million through the State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN).
“We see this problem as being quite urgent and the DID has assured to work on deepening the estuary immediately,” he said.
Hes said that the work to deepen the river been buried in sand will be fully completed in nine months, as promised by the DID.
He said this when visiting the Sungai Parit 3 estuary during a field visit to the district of Kuala Selangor yesterday.
Also present was the Kuala Selangor District Council (MDKS) YDP, Noraini Roslan, and the Sungai Burong Assemblyman, Datuk Mohd Shamsudin Lias.
“We must talk to all parties and I promised during the State Assembly session on November 24 that I will not take into account what party the representative is from because as the Chief Minister, I am fully responsible of caring for the interests of the people regardless of political ideology,” he said.
Previously, a group of fishermen there had to suffer losses due to engine damage (fans) that are worth hundreds of ringgit each tie the boat gets stuck at the mound of sand at the bottom of the estuary.
With pressure exerted, the mound of sand will cause the river water to become shallower, forcing the fishermen to push the sampans to the jetty.
The difficulty doubles when the time to find fish needs to be made earlier by almost two hours simply so that the sampans will not be stranded in the middle of the river, depending on the tide.
Due to circumstances, the daily income of the fishermen has also been affected.
NS
