Landslides triggered by heavy rain for almost a week have cut off road links to several areas in the Miri and Mukah divisions, Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu said today.

The road link between a settlement in the Bakong sub-district and Miri had been cut off, he told a news conference after chairing a meeting of the State Disaster Relief Committee in Kuching.

Jabu said the Public Works Department was clearing the roads of the piled up rubble to make them passable again.

He also said that the incessant rain had caused the Batang Baram river in the Miri Division and the Batang Kemena river in the Bintulu Division to burst their banks and flood low-lying areas.

“The committee, with the assistance of the relevant departments and agencies, has sent aid to the affected people,” he said.

Jabu said the incessant rain was common during the north-east monsoon season and this had caused a rise in the average rainfall recorded for the whole of December.

The situation was expected to continue until March next year, he added.

Meanwhile, in a media statement, the committee said 261 people from 60 households had been moved to relief centres in the Miri and Bintulu divisions.

The Bintulu division had the highest number of evacuees, at 222, followed by the Niah sub-district in Miri (34) and Marudi, also in Miri (five).

- Bernama