Pos Gob Orang Asli Plead For Bridge To End Risky River Crossings

GUA MUSANG, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- Over 200 Orang Asli residents of the Temiar tribe from three villages in Pos Gob are appealing to the government to provide funds to build a suspension bridge across Sungai Puian. The community risks their lives daily by cutting across the river to carry out their daily tasks. 

Adi Liman, the Orang Asli Village Security Development Committee (JPKKOA) chairman for Pos Gob, said that for years, cutting across the river has become a routine for villagers, including older people, women, and children.

"Residents of Kampung Tembaga, Kampung Lengrang, and Kampung Bercak travel back and forth across Sungai Pulan to Kampung Gob, which is the main route to (the nearest) town, which is almost 100 kilometres from the settlements.

"The level of Sungai Puian will rise quickly when the weather is rainy so residents will swim against the current for some three meters to reach the banks at Kampung Gob," he told reporters today.

He added that village residents had to transfer motorcycles on bamboo rafts to cross the river because there was no road for vehicles to pass through. The construction of a suspension bridge could definitely solve the problem.

Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA) director-general Datuk Sapiah Mohd Nor said she had gone down to the ground to see the people's lives in the settlements involved.

She revealed that JAKOA is planning to build a suspension bridge across Sungai Puian as a safe route for the community.

-- BERNAMA