13/04/2026

MONDAY | APR 13, 2026

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State national park shuts lodgings amid severe drought o Water shortage forces closure of accommodation as dry spell worsens across Sarawak, leaving rural communities scrambling for clean supply: State Forestry Corporation

Ű BY JOSEPH PETER newsdesk@thesundaily.com

KUCHING: Bako National Park in southern Sarawak, which is the oldest gazetted national park in the state, has been hit by severe water shortage due to the worsening drought. The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) has announced that due to the water woes, the national park will not allow any visitors or tourists to stay overnight as all accommodation have been shut down until further notice. “The Bako National Park is facing serious water shortage due to the worsening dry spell. Effective immediately all accommodation facilities have been closed down until further notice,” said the SFC in a statement on its social media platform. Visitors who are venturing into the national park vicinity have been told to seek advice from the park wardens. The Bako National Park, which covers 27.27sq km, has a network of trekking trails and plankwalks. Since two weeks ago, Sarawak had been hit by increasingly bad drought. Longhouses, schools and clinics in rural constituencies throughout the state are facing critical shortage of drinkable water as the dry and hot spell continues to spread. Students and teachers in schools, medical and health personnel, and patients in government clinics are struggling to find clean water for their daily use as the rain had stopped for weeks and the rivers had turned shallow and muddy. One of the badly hit parliamentary constituencies is Igan in central Sarawak. Igan MP Ahmad Johnie Zawawi said he is receiving appeals for help from the affected communities in his constituency.

wildfires were reported in Sarawak since two weeks ago. As many as 11 districts in Sarawak have seen dozens of forest fires since middle of last month. Early last week, the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board said 18 hotspots were reported in March and 241 in neighbouring Kalimantan province on the Indonesian side of Borneo Island. A hotspot is a wildfire measuring at least one sq km in size that can be seen as a red dot from satellite cameras hovering the earth. In the meantime, the biggest of these forest fires was the one in Tatau district in northern Sarawak that has been doused after it had burned continuously for 11 days. Minister in the Sarawak Premier Office Datuk Seri John Sikie Tayai said a total area of 300ha was ravaged in the Kuala Tatau forest fires. Speaking at a community event in Tatau town recently, he warned that open burning can cause tremendous damage if carried out during the ongoing hot and dry spell.

“The increasingly hot and dry spell are seeing more places running out of water supply. “I have received appeals for help from the people and my office has started deployment of bottled drinking water to longhouses, schools and clinics hit by serious water shortages. “Bottled drinking water has been sent to 1,114 residents in Nanga Semah longhouse and Kampung Sabena. Similar consignments of drinking water have been sent to Sekolah Kebangsaan Nanga Semah, SK Sabena and Klinik Nanga Semah. “All of them need urgent supplies of drinkable water for drinking and cooking,” he said in his social media statement. Other populated rural districts hit by critical water shortage are Dalat and Sarikei, both located also in central Sarawak. The drought in Sarawak may persist until August this year. The state disaster management committees at the districts have been warned on this increasingly dry and hot weather even as forest fires and

All accommodation facilities at the Bako National Park have suspended operations due to water shortage until further notice, the SFC announced on its social media platform. – P I C C O U RTE S Y OF S ARWAK FORE S TRY C OR P ORATIO N

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