Kota Kinabalu: To reach Kampung Sungai Magandai is something that even the best four-wheel drive vehicles will find more than challenging.
The village, home to the Dusun Sonsogon ethnic group, lies deep in the interior, some 40km from Kota Marudu town in northern Sabah. The residents are mostly farmers.
“On drier days it will only take us about one and half to two hours but when it rains, we take between four and five hours just to reach our village,” said villager Nurziati Solboy, 25.
“The stretch is frequented by logging trucks which makes matters worse, not to mention the landslides that occur, bringing with them more debris … sometimes it is just unpassable.”
The route is also used by residents from roughly six other villages situated along the stretch, with Kampung Sungai Magandai at the very end.
Altogether, it is estimated that around 3,000 people live in the seven villages.
There have been many news reports over what the villagers had to endure previously but their ordeal was again thrust into the limelight after someone posted a photo on social media of a man who apparently tried to use the road.
The man looked dejected as he sat on the muddy road, with his motorcycle stuck in the mud in front of him.
“Yes, I saw the photo on Facebook. He’s a teacher at SK Magandai in our village … he was tired after trying to push his motorcycle through,” said Nurziati.
The posting garnered countless comments and shares, with netizens saying the photo perfectly epitomises the emotions of rural folk in Sabah.
“Many other teachers also had their cars or motorcycles wrecked trying to pass through and ended up getting stuck in the mud.
“Villagers also find themselves in a quandary as they are in a race against time to ensure the vegetables they harvest reach the marketplace in town before they turn bad.
“There’s no problem when the weather is clear but not on rainy days. Selling vegetable produce is the main income for us … it’s difficult having a road like this and all the villagers are frustrated,” she said.
Nurziati added that secondary students at the village also had to delay going back to their hostels in town many times over.
“It usually rains heavily towards the end of December and the students have to ask permission from their schools if they can stay back until the road has hardened.
“They can only go back to their hostels two to three weeks later (after school starts) and on many occasions they have been warned by their schools not to delay coming back,” she said.
Getting proper medical services is another headache with such a far distance and bad road condition, she added.
But villagers are grateful to the many government agencies and non-governmental organisations that frequently visit the villages to provide medical screenings as well as to hand out assistance.
According to Nurziati, there has already been government approval to upgrade the road for quite some time but to the villagers’ dismay, things were not moving along.
“I don’t know what to say about this because only the political people will know, so I can’t comment,” she said, adding they have appealed the matter.
“But on behalf of the villagers, we again appeal to the authorities to look into our plight and expedite the work on the stretch.
“Besides the villagers, I really feel for the teachers because they are doing their best to come to the village and ensure our children get the education they deserve,” she said.
Apart from the road, Kampung Sungai Magandai also barely has an internet signal, which effectively cuts off the village from the outside world.
