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SANDAKAN – Over 100 villagers from Kg Nelayan Tengah and Kg Pampang are still using a dilapidated hanging bridge to date despite the Sabah government’s big promises to repair the bridge in January this year.
Primary school pupils, preschoolers, and others are still using the bridge to get to the school, preschool, and mosque in Kg Sibugal Besar daily.
Without the bridge, they would need to walk to the main road and the junction to Kg Sibugal Besar, which is about 4km away – over an hour’s walking distance.
The dilapidated hanging bridge over Sg Batang at Mile 10 had gone viral in January this year after pictures taken by Bernama, showing primary school pupils risking their lives walking on wooden planks, made their rounds on social media and in news reports last January.
Local government authority Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC) and Sg Manila assemblyman Mokran Ingkat were quick to respond at the time, saying that they had received RM100,000 from the Sabah government to repair the bridge.
At the time, SMC and the Public Works Department declared the bridge unsafe to use, shutting it down until further notice.
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Villagers here claimed that after the bridge was closed, the government worked with a non-government organisation to arrange transportation for pupils from Kg Nelayan Tengah and Kg Pampang to get to school at SK Sibuga Besar.
However, it only lasted for three months before the pupils were left to find their own ways to get to school.
Desperate for a solution, the villagers started utilising the bridge again at their own risk.
A grandmother who wished to be known as Ramsah, who was met with her 6-year-old grandson crossing the bridge to get home from his preschool, said that many parents have started paying for private cars to send their children to school.
But she was out of luck as they did not have any more space for her grandson.
“A lot more are like me. They cannot find transportation. Since the bridge was said to be too dangerous, I could not let my grandson walk on his own. I would send him and pick him up from his preschool daily,” she said.
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The Vibes also met several secondary school students who were crossing the bridge from Kg Nelayan Tengah to the mosque in Kg Sibugal Besar for Friday prayers.
One of them, Mohd Hilmi Mohd Aqil Amin, said if the bridge was closed, they would have no choice but to conduct zohor prayers at home.
When asked if they were scared that the hanging bridge would break, they said they were because it was already declared unsafe.
“But what choice do we have? The mosque is on the other side. We need to go for our Friday prayers,” he said.
Repair works expected to commence soon
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Kg Nelayan Tengah’s Village Development and Safety Committee head Salan Malah told The Vibes last week that the bridge was going to be repaired, with most of its parts to be replaced.
However, he said, there was a delay due to the slow transportation of materials needed for the project to Sandakan.
“It was supposed to begin (last week). But we cannot stop people from using the bridge for the time being because many of them don’t have a choice, especially the young children and old folks.
“We expect the bridge to be completed in two months, and we urge the relevant authority to speed up the project because the people cannot wait that long,” he said.
Salan said he could not say that local representatives had ignored their plea because Umno’s Mokran and nominated assemblyman Datuk Suhaimi Nasir had visited the bridge last week.
“They are aware of our problem. Now we just want them to speed things up,” he added. –The Vibes, October 4, 2022
