GUA MUSANG – A group of 15 Orang Asli from Pos Balar had to endure a 10-hour journey on 13 motorcycles on Friday to reach Gua Musang here to buy groceries after their own food supply ran out a week ago.
The Temiar tribesmen had to use the river route as the logging road, which served as their main land route, was damaged due to continuous rain that lasted for weeks. At one point they had to ford Sg Inching while carrying their motorcycles.
Abu Alang, 41, a villager of Kg Tidog, Pos Balar said they had subsisted on tapioca and vegetables they grew themselves for a week before deciding to head out to town to buy some dry goods.
“We had no other option than to use the river route as we had run out of food.
“Usually if we don’t have food at home, we could borrow some from neighbours but this time everyone ran out,” he told reporters here today.
Fellow villager, Sari Din, 25, said it would only take them five hours to get to Gua Musang if they used the logging road but this time the river crossing was one of the reasons that they took 10 hours to actually reach town.
“We came out as a group so that we would have an easier time when we had to carry our motorcycles across Sg Inching or push them out of the mud when they got stuck.
“We could only hope for the best as we did not know how high the water level of the river would be so we left around 7am and reached town at about 5pm. That’s why we had to stay overnight here in Gua Musang before leaving this morning,” he added.
Sari said that come every rainy season, the Orang Asli community had no choice but to face the challenges posed by damaged roads and fording rivers as those were the only routes available to those who have been living in the village for generations. – Bernama, December 25, 2022
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