8/7/2019 Sarawak Kayans : Build a Bridge Before We Die

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Build bridge before we die, appeal villagersPosted By admin On April 13, 2010 @ 8:22 AM In Local |Comments Disabled

LONG ATIP, Apoh, Baram: One of the biggest Kayan settlements, Long Atip in Apoh, Baram is in dire needof a proper bridge across the river.

And many longhouse folk have given up on seeingthe construction of the promised bridge in theirlifetime.

About five to six hours drive by 4WD-vehicle fromMiri, Long Atip is accessible by logging road fromLong Lama.

My wish is to see the bridge before I die, said AbanJau Ing, an elderly Kayan in his 70s, whosesentiment is shared by many of the senior citizens ofthe 115-door settlement, who are unhappy with thesorry state of the infrastructure there.

A group of disillusioned senior citizens there hadsought the help of Sarawak Kayan Association, Mirito highlight their plight, and their spokesman LaingNgau said the present old suspension foot bridgelinking the settlement to the road across the ApohRiver could collapse anytime.

It was built by the Agriculture Department twodecades ago, and it is now akin to a death trap,

STILL WAITING:Aban Jau Ing (seated) and othersenior citizens at the concrete block where a BaileyBridge was supposed to be built a decade ago.

with broken coils of cables and decaying wooden structures.

We want the relevant authorities to look into the matter before any catastrophic accident happens as wewere promised a metal bridge as early as 2002 and up to this day, there is only a slab of concrete to show,they claimed.

The bridge foundation was built at a cost of RM30,000 and the villagers were told that it would be given top

priority.

Almost 10 years have passed and we at this kampung are still waiting, Laing lamented.

Meanwhile, Philip Ngo, the chairman of Sarawak Kayan Association, Miri said he had told the group he wouldbring their grouses to the relevant authorities.

He said he had personally seen the run-down suspension foot bridge and was left shaking his head in

disbelief at the dice with danger daily by the longhouse people to cross the river while painfully aware that itcould collapse under their weight.

Many of the wire cables are rusty and at many parts the supporting cables have snapped while the peggeddown wooden posts are rotten.

Since the Bailey bridge foundation was already constructed a decade ago, he said it did not make sense thatafter almost 10 years the bridge had not been constructed.

The new metal bridge would link Miri, Long Lama to Long Panai, Long Terawan and the famous Mulu caves,opening up the area for tourism and agriculture development.

He urged the authorities to look into the matter urgently and to heed the prime ministers call to serve theLong Atip peoples needs without delay as the bridge was urgently needed.

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