KAPIT: Nestled on the banks of the Rajang River, the bustling town of Kapit is still relatively isolated from the outside world due very much to lack of infrastructure such as roads.
FORT SYLVIA: A historical heritage from the Brooke era.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: A mother tends to her stall while her baby and another member of her family sleep at the wet market in Kapit.
EXPRESS BOAT TERMINAL: Boats are the only means of transport to and out of Kapit.
TIME TO RELAX: Members of the public waiting at the Kapit town square.
With a population of over 100,000, the only means of transport to the nearest towns of Song and Belaga is by boat.
Such is the dire need for the urgent construction of roads to connect it to the outside world. Currently Kapit is basically still very much an island as the only way to reach it is either by express boat or by air.
The need for better connectivity at this juncture is a priority above everything else. Minister of Land Development and Baleh assemblyman Dato Sri Dr James Masing appealed on behalf of his people to ensure Kapit does not remain an island much longer.
According to him, if the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) road is completed and Baleh bridge connects this area to Bintulu through Ng Mujong, it will greatly benefit the people from 74 longhouses with 1,756 doors with a population of some 16,000 people who live in these isolated communities.
“In that area as well, there are 15 schools and five clinics,” Masing told the Borneo Post Adventure Team (BAT) during a phone interview yesterday.
However, the hardships brought by lack of infrastructure have not dampened the spirit of Kapit’s residents but in fact made them more resilient.
During the timber boom of the 70s and 80s, many businessmen and middlemen here became instant millionaires while local residents enjoyed monthly incomes of as high as RM10,000 each just from working as logging truck drivers. During this time, not many people were willing to further their studies because salaries offered by timber companies were far more lucrative than salary packages offered by other companies as well as the public service sector.
Things are much different now with smaller logs being harvested upriver. Fish stocks are fast depleting especially exotic species such as empurau, tengadak, semah and tapah. Even wildlife such as wild boar and deer which used to be abundant are getting noticeably less.
Looking at this reality, Kapit without any road connected to it, looks very gloomy at the outset.
Nevertheless, with the promise of SCORE, Kapit has been enlisted as one of the nerve centres. Its main contribution will be energy generation such as hydro-electric power and coal.
An estimated 4,000 MW could be produced from Kapit’s three major dams; Bakun, Pelagus and Murum.
In fact, Bakun dam will be able to produce some 2,000 MW of electricity by June next year when the impoundment is completed. The construction of Murum dam has already started. When completed, it will be able to contribute at least 900MW.
With such an immense contribution to the nation, Kapit deserves a much better deal such as more roads and increased treated water supply. Without better infrastructure, most if not all of the promised projects and investments will become white elephants.
Surely the government would not like to see white elephants to be constructed in the division.
So vital is road connectivity that any large projects to be implemented in the division will not be able to attract the best brains to work there.
Presently its clinics and only hospital are understaffed and so too are the government agencies.
With the election looming around the corner, once again the people of Kapit will voice out their hearts through the ballot paper – who they will vote, only the future can tell.
However, this issue could also be a feather in BN’s cap if it wins here and fulfils its promises to link up Kapit via Song and Ng Mujong.
By and large, Kapit is a very congested town with total road length of less than 300km and a staggering number of 10,000 vehicles plying the roads here.