Members of the Orang Ulu community heading back to their rural villages in the highlands for Christmas are worried about poor road conditions and landslides.

Rurum Kelabit Sarawak president Datuk Dr Philip Raja said most members of his community returning to remote villages in the Bario Highlands near the Malaysia-Indonesia border would be forced to take treacherous journeys of around 12 hours by land this Christmas season.

“As entire families are going back for Christmas and most are taking the treacherous roads, the association reminds them to take the necessary precautions and pray to God for a safe journey,” he said.

“It is best to go on a convoy so that they can look out for each other.”

Dr Philip said returning home is even more difficult for those from Long Seridan as they are still cut off by road after the Tutoh River bridge was swept away by a raging flood in May last year.

As such, he said they are now entirely dependent on MASwings’ rural air service.

He pointed out that to comply with Department of Civil Aviation guidelines imposed on Twin Otter planes in the past two years, MASwings slashed passenger capacity for flights from Miri to Bario and other STOL (short take off and landing) airports by half, with only nine passengers per flight allowed currently.

“I don’t know for how long this situation will go on because the solution told to us by the authorities is to lengthen the airstrips, in-spite of having used these same airstrips in all the past years and only now we are told that they are not long enough,” he said.

Dr Philip added this Christmas will be a time of healing for the community following the recent general election.

“I believe this Christmas is a good time for healing the divisions there are within the community after the elections and we unite and move forward to resolve national and global challenges facing our country,” he said.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by PHILIP KIEW

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