MIRI: Two hilltop churches in Miri City where some 2,500 Christians worship have ceased operations as a precaution following a landslip on the road leading to the top of the hill.
The Miri SIB Church and the Miri Gospel Church are located on the top of the 200m-high hill overlooking the city centre.
Miri Gospel Church chairman Norman Chu, an engineer, said the main road leading to the two churches had suffered serious erosion and had started giving way after weeks of heavy rain.
Parishioners of the two churches have stopped using the churches for now. We are worried that the road may collapse altogether, he said yesterday.
Part of the road has collapsed and sunk. Beside the road is a ravine about 50m deep. The slope is now very unstable.
During church services, there can be hundreds of cars and some 2,400 worshippers. The weight of these vehicles and people may bring down the entire road, he said.
The two churches are not only places for Sunday worship but also venues for prayer meetings, singing practice, conferences and other religious activities during weekdays and weekends.
At 3pm yesterday, PWD and city council engineers visited the site and discussed measures to contain the landslip and prevent further soil erosion.
The 200m-high Canada Hill, where the countrys first oil well is located, had experienced several landslides over the past month.
Two weeks ago, part of the hill collapsed onto a petrol station at the bottom, killing two Indonesian workers.