The damage to the road between Pa Mada and Bario cuts off the lifeline between Bario and Miri. Picture taken on May 10 this year.
BARIO: Rurum Kelabit Sarawak wants urgent repair of a road serving as a lifeline to remote communities in Bario as hardship awaits them if this is not done within a month.
The Bario highlands have been cut off since Wednesday this week by damage to the road which jeopardises delivery of fuel, essential goods and transport of people from Miri.
“Even a one-month cut-off will have great impact and hardship on the vulnerable residents there,” warned Dr Philip Raja who is president of Rurum Kelabit Sarawak.
“I hope the relevant authorities take as a matter of urgency our plea for repair of the broken parts of the road.”
He was talking to The Borneo Post in response to the predicament faced by Kelabits and other communities in Bario which is the administrative centre of Bario sub-district, the road cut-off this week compounded by the lack of maintenance for the past year, adding to their fear of isolation.
Dr Raja said since the elevation of the Kelabit highlands to sub-district with Bario as the administrator centre, MASwings Twin Otter flights alone were no longer able to sustain the overall needs of the people and activities.
He pointed to the growth in staff of government departments, schools, police, medical, immigration, agriculture, SAO office and the private sector catering to tourism activities and road construction, apart from the local population.
Air connectivity presently caters mainly to passenger movements but the main lifeline to Bario is the road for supplies – fuel, bottled LPG and other essentials – to be sent to schools, longhouses, Bario town, government departments and agencies.
He found it unacceptable to hear that JKR had no budget for maintenance of the road, or repair at least two collapsed areas as the remaining stretch of road was in good condition.
Another of Dr Philip’s concern is the upcoming Pesta Nukenen Bario food festival end of July will be jeopardised if the road is not immediately repaired.
A lot of supplies for those unable to book flights to attend the festival have to be transported from Miri to Bario by land.
DUN Deputy Speaker and Mulu state assemblyman Dato Gerawat Gala said on Thursday, Bario was cut off and his constituents want the authorities to take action immediately before supplies run dry in the highlands.
The erosion at one stretch between Pa Mada and Bario has caused the collapse of the dirt road which is a link vital to Kelabits and Penans in the highlands.
The budget cut has left Public Works Department with no road maintenance funds, causing paved roads to crack and break up between Long Peluan and villages in Bario linked to Long Banga by the logging road network to Miri.
Councillor John Terawe warned that remedial action has to be taken before the prolonged rainy season render roads impassable, even to the most seasoned drivers of 4WD vehicles.
This prolonged rainy and wet season has led to frequent landslides on this semi-gravel dirt road.
“Those in the interior depend very much on this road. There will be shortage of essentials,” he predicted.
Dr Roland Dom Mattu, former senior vice-president of SPDP and independent candidate in Mulu in the last state election, said there should be PWD-standard roads in Telang Usan and Mulu instead of upgraded timber roads.
“In order to improve, develop the rural area master plan for infrastructure to connect our land,” he suggested.
He said there appear no budget for maintenance of the JKR gravel road between Bario and Long Peluan as its condition looked deplorable during his last trip on March 22 this year, as it was a year ago.
Dr Roland said ad-hoc repair works is not acceptable and the Pan Borneo highway is a more pragmatic option for those in the interior such as Long Bedian, Long Panai, Long Banga, Long San, Long Lellang, Long Peluan and Bario.
“Upgrading timber roads is a waste of public funds as they only benefit loggers,” he added.