NICHOLAS TIONG and FAREINY MORNI

7th December 2021

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On 2nd December 2021, members of Sarawak Research Society (SRS), Sarawak Delta GeoPark, the community leaders of Bau District and media member from New Sarawak Tribune visited several Bau’s historical attractions as well as unique landscape formations. This experimental tour is a continual activity of “Green and Gold Experiential Tourism in Bau District” project under Responsible Borneo (REBORN).

 

The experimental tour was accompanied by Chairman of Hwa Gong Bau Historical Society Pemanca Bong Jong Long, Chairman of Persatuan Penganut Shak Bong Kung Paku Paku Kapitan Pui Shak Sin, Taiton Kapitan Phang Man Fook, Dr Dana Badang from Sarawak Delta GeoPark, Mr William Chai from New Sarawak Tribune, Ms Julie Liaw Wan Ing, Chairman of SRS Assoc. Prof. Dr Hiram Ting and his project team.

 

The half-day experimental tour began at 10:00 a.m. and ended at 2:30 p.m. The destinations in the trip were a mining cave at Dered Krian National Park at Taiton Lorong 9, a historical site which used to be a mining stockyard in Bau Town, and the geological rock formation at Paku Rock Maze Garden.

 

The mining cave is located at a Totally Protected Area (TPA) in Dered Krian National Park, which is under the management of Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC). This is a low-lying area that is prone to flood during the rainy season. During the tour, it was found that illegal mining activities inside the cave had become more rampant and this had caused extensive damage to the cave interior. If these illegal mining activities were not stopped, the interior of the cave would be forever altered by these looters. Some samples were collected by the Sarawak Delta GeoPark for further investigation.

 

Paku Rock Maze Garden is located at Paku Town, Bau District. According to Dr Dana Badang, there was a possibility that Paku Rock Maze Garden area used to be underwater, and the rock formation could be formed by the sea water. Each line formed on the rocks could be the result of over one million years of erosion.

 

The mining stockyard used to be three huge stockyards but was destroyed in a large fire many years ago. After the experimental tour was done, the visitors headed to SMK Paku and had another advantageous discussion with Mr. Ambrose, the headmaster for SMK Paku. The meeting started at 3:00 p.m. and ended at 4:30 p.m.