PETALING JAYA: Scores of primary school pupils from two villages in Sandakan will have to walk an hour to reach their school as the suspension bridge at Sungai Batang has been closed.
The pupils, from Kampung Nelayan Tengah and Kampung Pampang, usually take 30 minutes to reach SK Sibugal Besar using the bridge.
However, the public works department (JKR) and the Sandakan Municipal Council ordered the closure of the suspension bridge yesterday as it posed a danger to its users, according to Bernama.
Nur Juwita Julianna Amson, 12, who had been using the bridge to get to school, said using the main road would now take an hour.
“I would have to ask my brother to drop me and pick me up on his motorcycle as it is too tiring to walk that far,” she said.
Despite the announcement of the closure, no notice has been placed at the bridge. As such, the villagers, including some pupils, are still using it.
Another pupil, Muhamad Ismail Abdullah, 11, hopes the authorities will not close the bridge.
“Repair it, we don’t have cars. If it is closed, how are we supposed to go to school?
“It is dangerous, there are a lot of crocodiles in this river,” he said.
Retired public servant Ikra Dugasah, 65, hoped the bridge will be replaced with a new, safer one quickly.
“If possible, they should have a bridge that can also be used by motorcyclists.
“Many visitors, including foreign tourists, used to come to the village just to see the sunset from this bridge before the pandemic.
“A few film production units also came to carry out shootings here,” she said.
Ikra, who was previously with JKR, said the suspension bridge was built to replace a wooden bridge that gave way after Sungai Batang was widened for flood mitigation.
Roslan Muksan, vice-chairman of SK Sibugal Besar’s parent-teacher association, was worried about the pupils’ safety.
He said the change in government in 2018 halted efforts to repair the bridge.
“Now that Umno is back in power in the state, efforts to repair the bridge have been revived.”
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