LONG LUTENG, Baram: Students, parents and teachers of SK Long Luteng, Sungai Patah in Baram can now feel relieved after the suspension bridge connecting the school to the village has been repaired.
The recent floods in Baram affected several longhouses and settlements in Telang Usan, causing damage to the infrastructure such as bridges, roads and even properties and crops, and the suspension bridge at SK Long Uteng was not spared.
Without the bridge, the school is almost paralysed as parents choose not want their children to reach the school by crossing the swift flowing Luteng River in boats for fear of any untoward mishap.
The suspension bridge was almost destroyed by strong water currents and floating debris during the flood.
Telang Usan State Assemblyman Dennis Ngau, who received distress calls from the school’s headmaster and village headman, visited the bridge with the Public Works Department (JKR) personnel to assess the damage.
It was found that the main structure of the suspension bridge was still intact.
After the visit, Dennis called for an informal meeting at the school to discuss ways to repair the bridge on ‘gotong-royong’ basis because it would take awhile for government agencies to undertake the repair work and this would affect everybody, including school children.
After two days of repair work by the villagers, the suspension bridge is now passable.
Dennis praised the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of SK Long Luteng for the teamwork and he also thanked Sampling Timber Company for providing machinery and equipment to enable the repair work to be carried out.
SK Long Luteng can be reached in five hours by four-wheel drive vehicles from Miri.
