KUALA KRAI – Villagers in Temalir here are miffed at the PAS-led Kelantan government as they have been left to fend for themselves, constructing makeshift wooden bridges at their rustic village near here.
They feel that their complaints about the lack of infrastructure have fallen on deaf ears.
And, instead of seeing help arriving, they learnt that the state government had purchased a fleet of luxurious Mercedes sedans.
The wooden bridges they build themselves are all they can afford, and only lasts for a few months as it is usually swept away or breaks apart in downpours or floods.
Since the huge 2014 floods struck Kelantan, villagers have appealed to the state to build a proper bridge to connect the village with the main roads in Kuala Krai, but this has yet to be realised.
The wooden bridge is constructed by the village’s self-appointed “engineers”, who are volunteers from among the community, by tying together tree trunks to place across the river here.
It lasts several months until floodwaters come back annually at year-end to wash it away, said villager Jefriman Mohamed, 52.
He claimed that about 100 neighbours in his area are growing frustrated over the inaction by the state and their Manek Urai assemblyman, Mohd Fauzi Abdullah.
“After waiting for a response from the relevant authorities, we decided to literally take things into our own hands by constructing our own makeshift bridge using trunks of coconut, durian and meranti trees,” he said.
Since 2014, each time the bridge is washed away, the same villagers would pool their resources together and construct another wooden bridge.
“It is an annual endeavour,” said Jefriman.
Last January 7, the bridge once again disappeared after five consecutive days of rainfall and the villagers were trapped as access to the main town was cut off.
Following the incident, they encountered difficulty in getting food supplies.
There is an alternative route, but it is only passable using four-wheel-drive vehicles, said Jefriman.
Fauzi reportedly told Malaysiakini that he was informed about the need for a bridge.
“It is now part of the development allocation for Kuala Krai. We do have an allocation for the bridge,” he was quoted as saying.
As for the Mercedes-Benz purchases, it was reported that the state had approved the purchase of a fleet of 14 sedans as official vehicles for the menteri besar, his deputy and state executive council members.
Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah had reportedly said that funds to purchase the vehicles was from the state’s coffers and not from the RM400 million allocated by the federal government last year for development in the east coast state.
The cars’ purchase was made on a staggered basis from 2018 until last year.
“The decision to purchase the cars was made because the previous models were more than 10 years old,’ he had said.
Amar was reacting after it was reported earlier that the vehicle of Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob was said to be worth more than RM700,000.
PAS Youth head Khairil Nizam Khirudin had, however, disputed the assertion, saying the vehicle was much cheaper than what was speculated.
“The price was RM320,000, while the state exco members’ cars were RM200,000 each,” he said. – The Vibes January 11, 2021
