MIRI – The Society for Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Sarawak (Scrips) is receiving various videos recorded by rural Sarawakians facing transportation woes in interior districts, which the state premier boasted had achieved record-high revenues.
Scrips’ northern Sarawak representative Michael Ding shared a video with The Vibes showing a key bridge in Baram, which is used by road vehicles in a rickety and dangerous state.
In the video, a four-wheel drive pickup truck is seen sustaining a broken wheel axle after it fell into a gap on the Long San bridge while crossing Sg Baram. The bridge is located near a populated settlement called Long San, six hours through timber roads from Miri city.
Ding, a community elder from the Kuala Tutoh area in Baram, said the video was recorded by the driver of the vehicle that was seriously damaged in the recent incident.
“The driver is a native villager who was crossing the bridge over Sg Baram near the Long San settlement recently in his pick-up truck.
“The wooden planks on the floor of the bridge cracked apart piece by piece as he drove over.
The wheels got stuck when an axle broke after it ran into a big hole in the floor of the bridge.
“The vehicle was stuck right in the middle of the single-lane bridge. It took the villagers plenty of tough work to haul up the vehicle and push it to safety.”
Long San is an Orang Ulu settlement of about 3,000 people.
The bridge connects it to other populated places like Long Selatong, Bario Highlands, Long Bubui, Long Selaan, Long Tugan, Lio Mato, Long Banga, Long Peluan, and Long Semiyang,
It is also a key bridge that facilitates inter-district travel between the two vast districts of Telang Usan and Mulu.
“It is not only important for social travelling between settlements but also to connect to the trunk road leading to Miri,” said Ding.
“Cargo transporters need to use that bridge in order to send daily supplies of diesel, petrol, cooking gas cylinders and food supplies from Miri to the upper reaches of Baram.
“This is just one of many bridges and roads that are in very bad shape in Baram and other districts in rural Sarawak.”
Ding questioned how such a woeful situation should exist when Sarawak had achieved the highest recorded revenue in Malaysia of some RM 11.9 billion last year, as announced by Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg last month.
“The state leaders should explain why even the very basic amenities for rural folks are in such bad condition despite the billions of ringgit the state government earns year after year.
“It is obvious the billions have not brought real progress or benefits to the rural population of Sarawak,” said Ding.
The horrendous condition of public transport infrastructure in rural Sarawak involves not only bridges but also roads where almost all rural roads are still gravel or earth.
Ding added that Scrips is not raising issues to criticise the state leaders but to highlight the realities on the ground that show rural folks still living in very bad conditions. – The Vibes, February 22, 2023
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