SANDAKAN, Jan 11 — The dilapidated Sungai Batang suspension bridge in Kampung Nelayan Tengah near here is already more than 30 years old and needs to be replaced to ensure the safety of villagers using it.
Sungai Manila Community Development chief Isgau Abdullah said the 150-metre-long bridge had seen better days since it was upgraded 20 years ago from a wooden bridge to a concrete-supported cable network structure with a wooden pathway.
“A RM100,000 allocation to repair the bridge had been requested for and processed by the Sandakan Municipal Council (MPS) on Nov 28.
“However, given its current condition, the amount is no longer adequate. Maybe around RM500,000 is needed to build a new and stronger bridge,” he said.
He said this to reporters during a gotong royong to repair the bridge by villagers here today.
Yesterday, a Bernama photograph of students crossing the dilapidated bridge went viral, generating an outpouring of sympathy and concern for those who exposed themselves to danger when using the bridge.
Isgau said as a temporary measure, Sungai Manila state assemblyman Mokran Ingkat and appointed state assemblyman Datuk Suhaimi Nasir, who is also Libaran UMNO division chief, had extended funds to replace the broken and displaced planks on the bridge.
He said about 90 residents from Kampung Nelayan Tengah and Kampung Pampang use the bridge to go to Sekolah Kebangsaan Sibugal Besar, the Nurul Hidayah Mosque and to board public buses at Kampung Sibugal Besar across the river.
He said engineers from the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) and MPS were scheduled to make a reassessment of the bridge on Thursday based on the RM100,000 applied for.
A Kampung Nelayan Tengah resident, Hajiril Hajid, 62, was thankful that no untoward incidents had happened at the bridge but urged the government to take speedy action because the rickety bridge posed a danger to the public.
“One of our worries is that the river has crocodiles. We do not want an incident involving the reptiles, especially when the bridge is often used by children going to school,” said Hajiril, who is a fisherman.
Army retiree Azman Beddu, 44, from the same village, said the students were often late to school as they had to take extra precautions when crossing the bridge.
“We also do not have a mosque (in Kampung Nelayan Tengah) and this bridge serves as a link to Kampung Sibugal Besar for our Friday prayers,” he said.
A Bernama check found several cables under the bridge had snapped and planks from the footpath installed on the bridge had broken or come undone.
When it was upgraded 20 years ago, the bridge could take a load of up 1,000 kilogrammes at any one time.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency