Villagers must either walk 30km or pay RM100 one-way: The Sonsogon road misery
Published on: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Villagers at Sonsogon Magandai in Kota Marudu are virtually cut off from the outside world as the 30km road leading to it is in terrible disrepair. "Those who are fit enough walk all the way to Kota Marudu or must pay RM100 per person one way to get to Kota Marudu."Some decide to walk, but many can only stay. The Asian Forestry Company allowed us the use of their roads that cut across most of the impassable road through Pitas but this road only makes it to the parking point," said Dr Caryn Ann Ho.
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She was among 70 people including from the Health Department of Kota Marudu, Pitas and Kudat, the Kota Marudu Dental Clinic, the National Registration Department, La Salle Secondary School in Kota Kinabalu, as well as several non-governmental groups, that went there recently in an outreach programme on March 7 and 8.The programme, under the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS), was spearheaded by the Kota Marudu Health Department, headed by Dr Umar Kwang Kugan.The aim was to provide health screening, medical aid, food supplies, used and clothing as well as donated books to the villagers in Kg Magandai and the students of SK Sungai Magandai. "Non modified four wheel drive vehicles can make it up to the parking point seven kilometres away from the school where the cars will be parked and the people will have to walk through the jungle and hills to reach the village.
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The 'Jalan Orang Kampung' route takes about one and a half hours for the villagers. Modified 4-wheel drive vehicles can power through the last seven kilometres but with great difficult," Dr Ho said. Some of the 4x4 vehicles were unable to reach the destination due to serious damage sustained. Several government departments and non-governmental groups such as Sabata, the Asian Forestry Company (Sabah) and the Borneo 4WD volunteer group paid a visit to the remote village in Tandek, Kota Marudu. The convoy was flagged off from the Tandek Health Clinic at 8am and arrived at the school compound at approximately 3pm.
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The last seven kilometres traversed by the 4-wheel drive volunteer group was wrought with broken log bridges (which were skilfully rebuilt by the 4-wheel drive group), deep muck (despite the lack of rain for two weeks) and a river crossing with water reaching to just under the 4WD vehicle windows. There are 75 houses in Sg Magandai; nearby villages include Sonsogon Paliu, Makatol Darat, Binontungan Suyad, Sonsogon Magandai, Sonsogon Suyad and Mini Sulang.When the convoy arrived at the school, they were surrounded by people from the surrounding villages."We weren't sure who was who as other villagers from surrounding villagers who had walked for days also came to the health camp and had set up makeshift camps to stay for the duration of the programme."Dr Ho noted that around 200 pupils were schooling at SK Magandai ranging from preschool to Primary Six. They were "fiercely independent" as they washed their own clothes and cared for themselves with guidance from their teachers."Not all can stay at the Astro Hostel so many pupils end up staying with foster families who share the cost to feed and care for them. A mother or family member would take turns caring for these children each week. "Simple things that one takes for granted such as clothing, soap, shampoo are scarce here so most of the people here, including the children, take a dip in the river and the job is done." The medical team was able to oversee and deworm all the schoolchildren, vaccinate those who missed their vaccination at birth and attended to about more than a hundred patients in the health clinic."Dental teams were also able to screen all the schoolchildren and treat 79 of the pupils." There was also exhibition on tuberculosis and leprosy by Sabata, registration by the NRD and activities with the students by teachers from SM La Salle.The convoy held some activities with the students on the first day evening. A health talk was carried out at night in the presence of students, teachers and villagers.Among the items donated to the villagers and students were 150kg of rice, 20 tins of biscuits, 32kg of sugar, 30 kg of salt, 200 tins of sardines, 170 packets of cooking oil, four kg of dry vermicelli noodles, 200 packets of prawn noodles, five big black plastic bags of used clothes, a box of baby clothes, two boxes of new La Salle T-shirts and five boxes of books for SK Sungai Magandai students.One of the three La Salle teachers who participated in the convoy, Adrian Robert, said it was definitely an eye opener. "When we work in the city, we tend to take things for granted like the facilities we have. We are talking about children who are five to six years old doing their own washing, cooking and taking care of their younger siblings. "It's very touching to see how impoverished they are but at the same time they don't complain. They make do with what they have. Sometimes when we see the children you can see that they are living horrible lives. "Because of the lack of electricity, there was one little girl in Primary Six who was badly scarred when the kerosene oil lamp she was using spilled, caught fire and burned her body. She was slightly disfigured as a result but despite that still she carried on. She was also one of those chosen by Astro to go to Kuala Lumpur as a treat for the children from the area."Getting there was so difficult and the conditions were horrible. Our convoy incurred damages costing thousands when a vehicle long-shaft broke, for example, and all sorts of other problems. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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