Missing link will be saviour or killer for Kanowit folk

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Jeneve waits for a ferry to take him to Majau.

Jeneve waits for a ferry to take him to Majau.

KANOWIT: The road linking Kanowit to Song and Kapit will have its pros and cons for the people in Kanowit especially the villagers and the traders.

For Jeneve Jemat, a mechanic and hails from Rh Belayong in Dap, Kanowit the construction of the road between these riverine towns will cut the travel distance to all these towns along the mighty Rajang River compared to using river transport.

“Now, it takes me 45 minutes on motorcycle from my village to Kanowit by road as I have to disembark at a locality called Majau and from there I have to take a boat to go Kanowit,” he told the BATVI team while waiting for his boat at Kanowit’s Government Wharf here yesterday.

“For the villagers, the road makes them closer to the rest of the world. It takes them more than an hour by boat to reach Kanowit,” he said.

Jeneve who works in Bakun said the distance to his village would be closer once the bridge over Kanowit River is completed.

“Works on the road and bridges are in progress. We hope they can be done very fast,” he said.

The road, he added, would definitly change the lives of people in the rural areas.

“On the other hand, no one will remain in the village once the road is completed. They will prefer to go to the town to look for job leaving their land idle. I am a bit worried that our land will become idle and if we dont come back often they (land) will be claimed by others,”he said.

He said the boat fare from Kanowit wharf to Majau was RM2 per person and a motorcycle.

The BATVI team also spoke with a savoury steambun seller, Chua Seng Chee, 56, who said he was worried that Kanowit would be by-passed by travellers from Kapit and Song once the Kanowit Bridge was completed.

“They (travellers) will just go straight to Sibu without stopping in Kanowit leaving shops there without customers.

“The probablity is very high unless these travellers stop for their lunch in Kanowit,” he said.

Chua, who has a stall at a coffee show in Kanowit hopes his business would not be affected as he now sells between 200 and 300 buns daily.

“I open almost daily and sell the buns from 10am to about 3pm.They sell for RM1 to RM1.70 each depending on the savoury filings.The buns are bought mostly by locals while having their drinks.”

Chua, whose hand-made steamed buns are very well known in Kanowit, inherited the skills of making buns from his mother.

“It (the road) can kill us or save our businesses,” said a 33-year-old proprietor of Soon Xin Cafe, Chua Khie Soon.He is also a skilled mocktail drink maker.

Chua said he was optimistic that the road would not affect his business as his customers were mostly local residents of Kanowit and those from nearby villages.

He added that Kanowit had many coffee shops and the local foods were well-liked by the local people as well as travellers from Kapit and Song.

“We will see but I am optimistic that we will prevail. Kanowit has two major attractions – Dabai and Durian – which are known in the region.”

Kanowit, he added, even attracted those people from Sibu, Mukah and Bintulu to these two fruits known for their top quality and tastes.

He also said he was confident that Kanowit would be further developed given the many innovative businesspersons around.

“I still believe that people from nearby villagers will still come to patronise our shops while they do their administrative matters with government offices here.”