The muddy condition of the road between Song and Ngemah, along the private Jalan Ladang Kelapa Sawit.
KAPIT: Road users are discouraged from using Jalan Kapit-Song-Kanowit due to its extremely muddy condition where even four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles got stuck.
The advice came from a group of travellers, whose convoy of 10 pickup trucks were left stuck in the thick mud along the 23-km stretch of road not far from Song to Ngemah on Sunday.
They said the incident caused the water tank of two pickup trucks to burst due to overheating, while another vehicle’s engine broke down.
“Some 20 travellers spent the evening in five or six pickup trucks after they failed to drive through the muddy, slippery road,” related one member of the group.
Tuai Rumah Steward Saba of Datai Mas, Sungai Amang here, recalled his experience travelling along the route together with his wife and grandson.
“Last week, we drove from Kapit to Kuching to pay our last respects to the late Tan Sri Celestine Ujang. As we were driving back, we became stranded some two kilometres from the junction of Ngemah because those vehicles (pickup trucks) were stuck in the mud in front of us,” he said.
Steward said in the end, everyone managed to negotiate their way through the road.
“Those who made it past the treacherous stretch would help those who were stuck in the mud. However, it ended up not being a good day because my vehicle’s water tank also burst.”