30 children had to cross river by boat to school after flood swept away suspension bridge
KUDAT - The suspension bridge which was swept away by the flood last year had forced about 30 children in Kampung Mangkabusu, Pitas, to cross the Sungai Bengkoka river to go to school.
This has been going on for more than six months and was affecting the school session of the pupils from Sekolah Kebangsaan Mandurian as they would be absent each time the water lever rises.
A resident, Maratin Manjungkat, 40, said he was forced to go back and forth on the boat as much as 12 times a day to send and pick up the children from school.
"I brought the pupils across the river with a small boat which could only fit four children at a time.
"I was forced to go back and forth as much as six times in the morning and then again in the evening to bring the pupils back from school. They had to take turns.
"I was worried if the boat would not be able to carry that much load and might end up putting them in danger," he told Sinar Harian on Thursday.
He was commenting on the video which went viral on social media on Wednesday on the situation faced by a group of students who had to cross the river.
The incident was recorded on Monday by a resident.
"This week, they (pupils) will sit for their exams. So I had to get them to school in whichever way so that they would not miss their exam.
"Even at times when they were already late for school, I tried my best to bring them across and the residents here will take turns to accompany the children to school which was a 30-minute walk away," he said.
He said all the children including his son who was in Standard Five were not able to go to school consistently every day if it was not during the examination period.
This he said was because sometimes it would be too dangerous for the children to cross the river due to the water level adding that there was a drowning incident involving a child in Sungai Bengkoka.
"There were a few days where they could not go to school. Fortunately, the teachers at the school understood the situation. We will also inform the school if the children were unable to come to school," he said when contacted.
Maratin hoped that the situation will receive attention from various authorities.
"We have actually informed about the suspension bridge being swept away to the state assemblyman, but the process of building the bridge was not easy due to the weather.
"What's important for us while waiting for the bridge to be built was to have a bigger boat and life jackets for the children," he said.
Earlier, Maratin said 34 homes and over 100 residents who were staying in Kampung Mangkabusu depended completely on the suspension bridge.
“After the bridge was swept by the floods, we were forced to rely on the boats to go back and forth across the river just to go and buy daily necessities.
“So other than a boat and life jackets, we desperately need the suspension bridge to be rebuilt to alleviate the burden of all the residents of the village,” he said.
