5,000 Pangi folks want roads and clinic
Published on: Wednesday, July 17, 2019
By: Johan Aziz
TENOM: More than 5,000 residents in nine villages around Pangi area here want the new government to build roads and the Village Health Clinic to meet the needs of locals.
The nine villages are Batu 75 Baru, Batu 75 Lama, Batu 78, Kalandos, Pangi, Matolop, Anginlalang, Sisiuron and Kampung Rayoh where Kampung Rayoh is the farthest village of the railway in this district, about 20km from Tenom Town.
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Their villages, located on the banks of Padas River, can only be reached by train to town twice daily.
According to a resident of Kampung Pangi, Ginigol Latif, 51, limited train travel and absence of road networks made it difficult for residents to receive medical care in the event of an emergency such as severe illness and mothers who give birth.
He said that when such an emergency case occurs, villagers resort to man-made trolley to bring the sick or expectant mothers to Tenom Hospital, which is about 13km from Kampung Pangi.
He said villages near Pangi also do not have health clinics making it more difficult for the residents to get proper healthcare services.
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“We are very hopeful that the new government will implement the infrastructure concerned because it there have been many occasions where women who have given birth and sick people are forced to use the trolley to go the hospital,” he said.
Jaidah Rulian, 33, appealed to the government to build roads into the village because the villagers in Pangi are facing a difficult life due to the situation.
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She said walking from Kampung Pangi to Tenom takes about two hours while trolley, more than an hour.
She said there have been cases where expectant mothers were forced to deliver their babies while on the way to hospital and at the railway station because of no road into the village and non-existent of rural health clinic.
In addition, she said, the absence of road makes it difficult for the villagers to market agricultural produce such as banana, rubber and fish in town.
She said the villagers were forced to use the trolley to transport their agriculture produce to Tenom town each time they need to go town.
River guide Ailir Rulian, 40, said despite Kampung Pangi a focal point for tourism activity – river rafting, train service is only once a day. He believed that with the availability of roads to the village, it boost economic activity there as well as that of the surrounding villages.
He said rafting activities such as in Kiulu and Tamparuli can be performed up to five or six times a day because of good road networks there.
This was revealed to the media at the Pangi Ecochallenge Program 2019 organised by Pangi Children Education Fund (Tapai), which was formed by SK Pangi Parents and Teachers Association (PTA).
Meanwhile, Kemabong Assemblyman Jamawi Jaafar said he is prepared to bring up the matter with Infrastructure Development Minister, Datuk Peter Anthony, to find solutions to the issues.
He said that he would propose for a twin railway line and a small road so as to further improve the lives of the residents at Kampung Pangi and also to improve tourism in the area.
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