Earth road in rural Bukit Mabong in dire need of upgrade

KAPIT (Aug 17): The earth road linking Tunoh and Sang Anau in Bukit Mabong District near here is in dire need of upgrade, lest the condition deteriorates further and in the end, it may cut off the sole access to the communities in these areas.

Uma Baha chieftain, Uma Merang Eyommos Ngang, told The Borneo Post here that in April this year, the wooden bridge across Sungai Entaroh had collapsed and fell into the river after heavy rain.

“The situation was further compounded by the riverbank erosion. Also adversely affected was the culvert across Sungai Betelung,” he said when met here yesterday.

It was reported that the access road was built by a logging company, but it was abandoned after logging activities had stopped many years ago.

Due to non-maintenance, the stretch now is riddled with deep potholes, and exposed to flash floods, mudflow and more soil erosion whenever it rains heavily.

Eyommos Ngang said he had reported the situation to Kapit Resident’s Office and in response, the office had told him that a contractor from Kapit did carry out the basic repairs.

“However, the works were ‘washed away’ by downpours, and the road’s back to having deep potholes, which are dangerous to motorists.

Adding on, the chieftain also lamented the situation where the villagers were also ‘cut off from the wireless network’, following the termination of the wireless service on Aug 3 this year.

“I did make an enquiry, and the reason given by the service provider was that the contract had expired, with no renewal talks happening.

“I am appealing to the government to look into our plights; for the relevant authorities to repair and upgrade the access road, and for the SMA (Sarawak Multimedia Authority) to reinstate the wireless services,” said Eyommos Ngang.

Established as Ra resettlement scheme in 1997, Sang Anau is near the Bakun Lake, about 30km from Tunoh on the other side of Bukit Mabong, and 153km from Kapit town.

There are 400 residents from 64 families, who are mostly the Kenyah and Kayan communities.

At present, a trip to Sang Anau from Kapit is only possible using a four-wheel drive vehicle (4WD) along the old logging road, a journey that could take between six and eight hours.