Express boats from areas with lesser passengers will be deployed to Sibu and Kapit towns in Sarawak’s central region during this Gawai Dayak festive period to accommodate the expected increase in the number of passengers.

Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) controller William Jinep said today SRB had recorded an average of 5,000 passengers per day each at Sibu and Kapit express boat terminals during last year’s Gawai period, with the same volume expected this year.

“On the Batang Rajang (where the two towns are located), there are only between four to five express boats operating daily (from each town) and that means in a day they can only transport about 1,000 passengers,” he told a media conference in Kuching.

He said river patrols and river blocks would also be intensified during the Gawai period, which starts from the end of this month until the first week of June, to ensure that all the users complied with the existing regulations.

Jinep said checking stations were also set up at several strategic locations along the Batang Rajang where the boat operators were required to report themselves, while a ‘no ticket, no entry’ policy would be enforced at all express boat terminals.

He said SRB was also in the midst of developing electronic ticketing (E-Ticketing), Electronic Manifest (E-Manifest) and Vessel Tracking System (VTS) to facilitate their operations and expected to be commissioned before the end of this year.

- Bernama