NABAWAN: Teachers and students of eight primary schools here might not make it to their schools today (Monday) as the wooden bridge that they always use collapsed on Friday.
The affected schools are SK Bonor, SK Mamagun, SK Binaun, SK Pohon Batu, SK Pengaraan, SK Nagkawangan, SK Layon and SK Prontomon.
Zazila Roslan (pic), whose mother is a teacher at one of the schools, said the wooden bridge had collapsed many times and no action was taken by the authorities to upgrade or replace it.
“My mother has been teaching in Nabawan for more than 25 years and she is using the same wooden bridge every day to go to school,” she said.
According to her, the villagers had to fix the bridge themselves each time it collapsed.
“We did ask the Government to build a new concrete bridge, but they said they couldn’t do anything because the bridge is located on a logging road. But this is not true, as the damaged bridge is on a government road,” she said.
The wooden bridge in Nabawan which collapsed on Friday.
She said several people had died when crossing the bridge and one of the teachers fell into the river due to the slippery bridge in 2018.
“The wooden bridge needs to be replaced with a concrete one for the safety and convenience of the villagers, including students,” she said.
The first phase of school reopening in the country after the Movement Control Order began on June 24 for 500,444 students from over 2,500 schools taking their public examinations this year.
The second phase, which started on July 15 (Wednesday), involved students from Form 6 (Semester 1), Form 1 to Form 4, and Year 5 and Year 6 for primary schools, as well as remove classes (kelas peralihan).
The third phase starts on July 22 (Wednesday) and involves Year 1 to Year 4 pupils in primary schools.