Children of 4 longhouses in Sungei Pak have to watch out for snakes, wild boars and other wild animals when walking to school
THE ROAD TO SCHOOL: A villager of Rumah Shandom points to the jungle path that their children use to go to school.
SIBU: Primary school students from four longhouses in Sungei Pak, about a 45-minute drive from here, go to school before dawn, walking through narrow jungle paths to reach their school at daybreak.
Accompanied by elders, mostly their parents and grandparents, and armed with torch lights they climb rugged terrains in thick undergrowth and walk on poles across streams to reach SK Nanga Pak.
Each day the children wake up at 4am to prepare themselves, and in half an hour they are off on the rugged path with school bags on their backs, even in heavy downpour.
Dudong assemblyman Yap Hoi Liang, who has been visiting them for three years, has been making appeals in newspapers on their behalf.
Now that he has been elected their representative, he told thesundaypost that he would be marching into the state assembly with their pleas.
He said he wanted the plight of these children heard, and he wanted immediate action taken to improve the infrastructure for the longhouse folks.
These children, who number more than 20, are from the four longhouses built closely together in Sungei Pak – Ruman Shandom Ajang, Rumah Janang, Rumah Sebastian Igom and Rumah Iweng.
A Primary Three boy, who only identified himself as Austin from Rumah Shandom Ajang, said his grandfather walked him to school but after school the children would group themselves and walk back by themselves.
“I am used to it already,” he said but added that it was troublesome when it rained.
“We have to walk through the mud when it is wet, and worse, the path at the foot of the hills are always flooded, and we have to wade through the water, even at 4.30am. It is cold.”
Parents of these children are grateful that the school allows their children to stay in the teachers’ quarters when the floods pose danger to the children.
Austin said the path was often flooded, and in a serious flood, the water could reach chest-high.
“The flood can stay for up to a month, and we have to stay in the school. Our parents cannot visit us.”
Floods, rain and the rugged terrain are only a part of what these children have to go through.
Austin said they also encountered wild animals.
“Snakes and wild boars often cross our path, but we are not scared.”
A Primary Five girl from the same longhouse, Jillian Bangan, said they would set out on a cement path which is less than 500 metres.
“The rest of the one-hour-plus journey is rugged through tall grasses, bushes, streams and mud.”
She said if they return when there is a flood, they would leave their school bags with their teachers to prevent them from getting wet.
A Form One boy who identified himself as Andrew from Rumah Shandom gave a sigh of relief as he did not have to walk through the path again after enduring the challenge for six years.
The 13-year-old boy now goes to school in the comfort of a van, and he does not have to worry about rain.
Yap said there used to be a gravel road cutting through the jungle to the school but it was never maintained.
“It became a jungle path again. I am disappointed with the neglect for these people.”
He said equally disappointing was the fact that although there had already been a road link to the longhouses, “water and power supplies never reached the residents.
“The folk drink from the murky water in the drains beside the road.”
The newly elected assemblyman said he was worried about a disease outbreak because the residents had been drinking the unclean water.
“I am also worried because they live in frequent fear of water shortage during dry spells.”
The assemblyman lamented that although a power transformer had been built in the area until now the people were yet to enjoy electricity.
Regarding the water treatment plant that would be built under the Rural Water Supply Phase II as revealed by Public Works Department, Yap pleaded with the authorities to speed up the project.
“These longhouse folk should not suffer anymore. They are in fact living in a semi-urban area. The car ride from Sibu only takes 45 minutes. Yet, these children going to a nearby school have to walk longer than that.”
Yap assured the residents’ pleas would be highlighted in the assembly sitting beginning this week.
“To be exact, they are among the 10 oral questions I am asking. I shall also touch on them in my speech and debate. These residents have the right to be heard.”