The Salome Dam of Miri

 Salome was a beautiful woman during the life time of Jesus Christ. She was a Jewish Princess and was the daughter of Herod II, the son of Herod the Great. She performed the Dance of the Seven Veils and asked for the head of John the Baptist.

However there was another woman who was virtuous and was well remembered, She was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the disciples James and John. She herself was a follower of Jesus.

Salome is also as kind of Middle Eastern flatbread.

Salome also means peace, from the word Shalom.

Perhaps when the Sarawak Oil Fields first built the dam to  conserve water for the growing Miri population the company thought that it would be a good name to give to the dam. The other river next to the Salome Dam is Sg Saritan.

Sarawak Gazette Jan 3 1921 : 

The Public Works Department worked on the Salome Stream. Hopefully the water course will be completed by the end of 1921. The dam was actually completed in 1921, supplying 11,000 tons of waster during the prolonged drought season in Miri. The other dam, on the Saritan River could not supply enough water. There were many man dug wells in Miri to supply water but it was not enough.

during the Japanese Occupation, the locals saw the Japanese using the dam and the pool to cool themselves. The Japanese have an Onsen culture - a kind of hot spring bathing idea,

Students from St Columba in the past had also gone over to the pool to have fun in the 1960's.

for many decades the presence of the dam has been forgotten by the local people,. In 2020, some hikers discovered the presence of the concrete structure and cleared the area.

So far nothing much has been done to re purpose the dame. Photographs have been taken of the dam and they all look very good.

It is hoped that this dam would be gazetted as a historical heritage site by the Sarawak Government.