Too low for comfort

1

Clearance height of temporary bridge over Tebat River too low for longboats, making villagers’ lives a living hell

Tebat villagers point to the temporary bridge across Tebat River that has turned their lives upside down.

SKRANG: The lives of residents living along Tebat River in Ulu Skrang were virtually washed away the day a temporary bridge was constructed along the proposed Ulu Skrang Road some two years ago.

They are now keeping their fingers crossed as the Public Works Department (JKR) Sri Aman will be taking over the construction of the road next month and in the process build a proper bridge over Tebat River.

As for now, the affected people are on their knees because the temporary bridge is too low for residents to cross by boat to their farms at Skrang River.

Some of them get around the problem by using two boats – one on each side of the bridge, but this `ingenuity’ carries with it two problems – the boats will either be swept away by floods or get stolen.

Nanga Tebat folk Owen Braoh said others used another method to get pass the bridge – they sink their longboats under the bridge. As for their goods and harvested crops, they would load and unload at the main road.

“That, if done every day, is very tedious, so much so that some of us came very close to quit farming all together.

“But we have no other place to farm other than on our lands at the banks of Ulu Skrang River,” he said.

Walking on foot is not an option as the farms are on the other side of Skrang River, and the affected people have been using Tebat River – a tributary of Ulu Skrang River – to get to their farms using longboats for generations.

There are currently five longhouses located along Tebat River: Nanga Tebat, Kujoh, Belawan, Pulau and Pelow. Except for Pulau longhouse, each longhouse has no less than 20 families.

Their nightmare began some two years ago when the bridge at Tebat River was swept away by floods, and the previous road contractor decided to replace it with a temporary one by using a mixture of iron and logs.

The villagers tried to confront the contractor, but to no avail as he fled each time the villagers went looking for him.

Some residents claimed their longhouse chiefs turned a deaf ear to their pleas and chose to keep mum instead.

Having exhausted all avenues to get their problems addressed, they contacted The Borneo Post to air their plight.

Resident Unan Sanggong said most of his people had contemplated tearing down the bridge but decided against it after taking into consideration that fact that people living in Ulu Skrang area needed the road to connect to the outside world.

Another villager, Anja Nuyang, said he did not want the bridge to cause friction between Tebat folk and Ulu Skrang community, who used the Ulu Skrang road.

Anja’s neighbour Abol Mangoh said although the people were grateful for the new road, they really wanted a proper bridge to be built soon over Tebat River so everyone could get on with their lives like before.

“When I first heard about a road being built here years ago, I was delighted as I can now travel in and out of Ulu Skrang with ease. Now that the road is almost completed, we hope the road builders will take time to consider the people of Tebat as it has been nearly two years of suffering for us,” said Abol.

Engkilili assemblyman Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa visited the area on Tuesday to attend a function at SK Nanga Tebat primary school.

He said the Public Works Department (JKR) Sri Aman would take over the road’s construction next month, and promised that a proper bridge would be built very soon.

“I hope the villagers along Tebat River will remain a bit more patient as I have sorted this problem out and a new bridge over Tebat River will be built soon.

“Their problems were due to the fact that the previous contractor had failed to perform their duties well,” said Rayong.

When contacted yesterday, JKR Sri Aman engineer Cassidy Morris confirmed that a bridge would indeed be built there as soon as the department took over the road construction works next month.

A simple bridge, he said, would not take long to build, and a few other bridges were earmarked to be built along the road as well.

Construction of the RM38 million 50km Ulu Skrang gravel road started in 2012.

There are currently five longhouses located along Tebat River: Nanga Tebat, Kujoh, Belawan, Pulau and Pelow.

Except for Pulau longhouse, each longhouse have no less than 20 families.