SIBU: For nearly two decades, Sabat Uban, 34, has called the Seng Ling dumpsite his home.Sabat first moved to the dumpsite from Julau because he was told it could be a place to earn a living.
Back then when he built his small hut alongside those of other scavengers, Sabat found many discarded saleable items. He sold enough items to save up for a generator set, so he could have electricity at home.Sabat also furnished his hut with a television, telephone, clothes, trophies, furniture, and other items to make it a home. Since the dumpsite closed in April, he and other residents have faced tougher times.
“It was not this hard when I first came here. We used to have about RM50 or at the most RM100 in our pockets every time.
Sabat and Baby are seen in front of their home at the dumpsite.
“Enough for us to get by; buy food. Today, we hardly have money in our pockets.There is no guarantee if we have rice to eat,” he told The Borneo Post recently.
Together with his wife Baby Brain, Sabat now scavenges around town.
“I am scavenging food or items in the garbage bins. Sometimes, I look for some vegetables and sell them at the market. Sometimes I could earn maybe RM15 or RM20.
“But we do not have good days all the time. Sometimes we come home with nothing,” he said.
Sabat said on good days there will be food in the bins.
“If it is still in good condition, I’ll eat it. Anything that fills my stomach, I’ll take it,” he said, adding at times he does suffer from food poisoning.
He explained that when he does earn money, he would buy 2kg or 3kg of rice, which lasts around two days, while on days he earns nothing they go without rice. Sabat said he has done odd jobs, such as working at a construction site, but his undisclosed health issues limit what he can do.
“I had to stop after one day of work. I cannot do hard labour or carry heavy stuff.
“Easy things like looking for something to sell, that I can.
“However, the employer was nice, he could not take me in due to my health issue, but he told me that if I recovered I could go back to work.
“For now, I cannot go to work,” he said.
According to him, Baby also does not work because she has to look after him. As they have no access to water or electricity supply, Sabat relies on water from a nearby drain to bathe and wash his clothes.
“If it rains every day, it is okay and we will not feel itchy when we wash. The dry season is the worst,” he shared.
Currently his generator set provides enough power to charge his mobile phone and allows him a short period of entertainment at night.
Fellow dumpsite resident Abu Bakar Abdullah, 72, hopes for a better life for himself and his granddaughter. Originally from Dalat, Abu Bakar earns his living working odd jobs. He had worked as a cleaner up until five months ago.
“The boss did not want me anymore due to my old age. I am now 72 years old. I worked as a cleaner before, garbage collector, I worked at the timber site also and so forth.
“I cannot remember how long have I worked,” he said.
Currently, his teenager granddaughter is also unemployed.
“I think we are all ashamed of scavenging for things outside, but we have no other choice as we need to survive.
“Sometimes, we would starve; most of the time we only eat one meal per day,” he said.
Sabat added he and other residents have gotten used to the stares they get around town. His biggest concern is how they will survive in the long term.
“We cannot go back to our village because we do not belong there anymore.
“If one day, people start to ask us to move out of this place, we’d have no choice but to move out.
“The problem is where would we go once we are forced to move out from here?” he asked.