Sabah Villagers Take Matters Into Their Own Hands After Waiting 15 Years For A Road
After being ignored for over a decade, the villagers in Kampung Dowokon decided to take the initiative into their own hand to connect to the nearest town and villages. However, there’s more to be done.
By Sadho Ram — 30 Oct 2015, 04:31 PM
About 230km from KK, in the Kudat Division of Sabah, lies a small town called Pitas, with a population of about 38,000 people
Pitas district, according to the World Bank in 2010, is one of the poorest and most undeveloped areas in Malaysia. A 42-year-old farmer Maklin Masiau calls Kampung Dowokon, a remote village in the Pitas district, the "Lost World" because not many people have visited it as it is inaccessible by road.
In 1999, a road linking 7 villages in the region was approved under the Seventh Malaysia Plan. But it was abandoned after only a few kilometres of construction. No reason was given for the stop order.
Since then, 15 years passed, and the villagers kept waiting for the government to fulfill its promises. They kept knocking on the doors of politicians, civil servants, and ministers to appeal to them to complete the last 11km of the project. Their standard response: "We will look into the matter and consider it."
Back when it was reported that the government would build a Pitas Pandan Pinapak road, it had brought a hope of change in the remote region.
"When I read that a road would be built to connect my village to Pitas town, I thought it was a turning point for Kampung Dowokon," said Maklin, adding, "I thought the villagers' difficulties and sufferings would end and their quality of life would improve."
The irony here was that the district Public Works Department had already erected a signboard — Jalan Pandan Meliau Pinapak — proclaiming that the road had been completed.
The road, however, did not exist!
The villagers there do not want much
"Actually, we do not expect a highway to our villages, just a stretch that is safe and comfortable to all users," Janting Madisa, a fomer village head, said while speaking to The Rakyat Post.
So last year, the villagers gave up on waiting for the promised infrastructure and decided to build a 7.4km timber road themselves
“If we don’t build this road, no road will ever be built to our villages. We will build first and hope the government will upgrade it to a gravel or asphalt road,” said Maklin, a Dusun Sonsogon born and bred in Kampung Dowokon.
He managed to convince his 36-year-old friend Weltter Arrifin to lend/rent his Hitachi excavator. Depending on terrain, the excavator operator can carve 40m to 80m of timber road a day.
“Weltter was ready not to make any money in the road project. Most important for him was for a road to be built so that the villagers’ socio-economic condition would improve,” said Maklin.
Raising their own funds and borrowing machinery to help in its construction, the 8km road took about four months to complete.
Although it may not be a finished tarred road like the one that was initially promised to them, the villagers are still counting their blessings.
It now only takes an hour for students to get to school instead of three
“Now, it takes our children just an hour to get to their school in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pitas, as opposed to three hours before,” said Janting Madisa, who was among hundreds who chipped in and worked on the road last year.
Prior to this, students had to take a boat over the Bengkoka River and continue their journey by chartered buses, while those who could not afford the ride would just walk to their school.
therakyatpost.com
“I would consider myself lucky as I have relatives staying nearby my children’s schools. They agreed to allow my children to stay with them. My children come home over the weekend. The same goes for other families.
But others are not so lucky as their children are forced to walk four hours, to and fro between their homes and school. And the journey gets longer during rainy days.”
therakyatpost.com
However, the existing road is still impassable when it rains
"We are doing all we can because we want our children and our children’s children to live a more comfortable life. Besides, that is what modernisation is all about," Janting said.
The villagers, however, say "we still have faith in the government," and believe they would receive better facilities and infrastructure in the future
Although we’ve felt ignored for over a decade, we still have faith in the government. We believe they will listen to our plight and provide us with better facilities. That is our wish.”
therakyatpost.com
Meanwhile, the road linking the villages in the area has saved farmers' lives as they are able to transport their products faster now
"The stretch may not be perfect as it does get hard to pass when it rains, but at least we have a road that links the villages here. People like myself are able to market our farming products faster, unlike before when some would go bad due to the long journey to the market in (Pitas) town, 25km away," said the 49-year-old, who counts bananas and coconuts among his crops to make a living.
Janting said before, it took him at least four days to transport his products out to the market, causing some of the crops to go bad. This travelling period had since been cut by half.
"The costs may not have changed, since we still have to pay more or less the same price for transportation, but at least now I have more to sell since fewer crops go bad."
therakyatpost.com
It's true the government ignored them. But it's also true that the villagers did not give up. What truly matters here is that despite being ignored, they came together, in hope and their efforts, to give themselves a chance at a better future for a greater good.