SAMARAHAN: The Sarawak Public Works Department (PWD) is planning to hire a security service company to help the department implement SOPs at all its 12 ferry terminals state-wide.
Its deputy director Richard Tajan said the move is to ensure all ferry users follow the standard operating procedures (SOP) and rules laid out by the authorities.
"We want everyone to observe our SOPs when boarding our ferries for their own safety. We hope to be able to do this within this year," he said.
"Besides queue jumping, another grave concern is the reluctance among ferry users to use the life jackets provided when they are on board."
"The reason they usually give is they do not like the idea that the jackets are commonly shared or are dirty. But the fact is they are always frequently sanitised by our workers," he added.
Richard said the jackets were very important to save life in the event of any untoward incident.
He said the public could choose to bring their own jackets or they could buy one costing RM35 at the ferry.
"Then again, we face another problem of missing jackets. A ferry operator had estimated he lost about 200 jackets per month."
"We hope by getting the service of the security company we can put an end to or minimise all these problems," he said.
He was briefing Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who visited the Triso and the Saribas ferry terminals here yesterday.
Uggah urged all ferry users in Sarawak to closely follow the SOPs and rules laid out by the authorities.
He said wearing of life jackets, for all vehicle passengers including the drivers while on board, might seem trivial but nevertheless was very important and necessary.
"The public too, with the exception of emergency vehicles with the siren or emergency lights switched on, like the police, ambulance, the Fire and Rescue Department and the Civil Defence Force Department(APM), are not allowed to jump the queue.
"No one is allowed to park their vehicle on the ferry ramp," he said, adding that the SOPs and rules are made to avoid any untoward incidents.
Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Infrastructure Development Minister, hoped everyone will give their co–operation as it was for the interests of their own safety.
Last year, a family of nine, including seven children and a baby drowned when the pick-up truck they were traveling in plunged into Sungai Batang Lupar at the Triso ferry jetty in Beladin.
Apart from wearing safety jackets, all car occupants, except the driver, must disembark from their vehicle before it is driven through the landing ramp into the ferry, and only board the vehicle after it has exited the ferry at the other point of the landing.
On another issue, Richard said PWD had proposed the creation of the restricted zone area or the ferry operation zone.
He said local fishermen tend to fish close to the operating area because of the very favourable conditions where the river water met the sea water which attracted the fish.
He said there had been an instance in 2018 where their "pukat" net had got entangled in the ferry propellers.
"We are not trying to stop them from fishing but they must follow the rules. Public safety when using any ferry can be compromised and we certainly do not want this to happen.
"PWD hopes for this ferry operation zone to be gazetted to come into effect. But before we do this, we will engage the fishermen, the area elected representatives and community leaders in dialogues," he said.
