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Samling Group helps rural communities

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A partially collapsed bridge.

MIRI: Responding to urgent needs of several rural communities in Sarawak’s interior, Samling Group of Companies recently sent in emergency teams to rebuild vital roads damaged by heavy rain and flash floods over the last few weeks.

For example, after a bridge that connects 91 villages in Baram area, partially collapsed last Sept 8, Samling immediately sent a team from its Baram Central Base Camp including heavy machinery there on the same day.

According to a press statement released by Samling yesterday, a temporary access road for light vehicles was immediately constructed at the site. 

The company then repaired the bridge, ensuring that it became fully operational and passable to all vehicles including heavy trucks. 

This bridge serves communities in upper Baram and Tinjar areas all the way up to Bario. 

Samling Group had also restored Long Pillah–Long Miri road that collapsed last Sept 13. 

Recovery measures were taken immediately to ensure light vehicles were able to use the road, and it was restored fully by mid-day of Sept 15. 

Both the bridge and a road built by Samling in the late 1980s are vital links for villages and longhouses in Long San, Lapok and Long Lama where there are bazaars, schools and other facilities and amenities. 

Before these essential infrastructures were put in place, it would have taken days for children to get to the nearest schools or for communities to access the nearest amenities. 

Today, using transportation sponsored by the Group, the road allows children to reach school safely and much faster. 

Currently, there are 51 primary schools and seven secondary schools in areas where the Group operates. 

Samling Group works closely with the state government to ensure all its initiatives are in line with the State’s development master plan. 

This includes bringing connectivity to rural places where people have no access to essential amenities like healthcare and education. 

To date, the Group has built and maintains more than 10,000 km of roads and 81 bridges, most of which are in the deep interior of Sarawak, bringing access and greater mobility to 172 villages in three regions. 

Additionally, in the last decade, the Group had, through numerous medical outreach programmes, brought doctors, specialists and volunteers to the rural communities. 

The Group is committed to providing and improving the quality of life of rural communities by ensuring that they are not physically isolated, and have access to essential amenities. 

The communities in these areas have expressed their gratitude in various ways over the years as opportunities open up, beyond life in the forests. 

Sarawak’s rural population is large, much of which still lives in poverty and inhospitable conditions.

The bridges and roads are directly correlated to the communities’ economic and education gains. 

Along with other infrastructural improvements in the rural areas, the bridges and roads built are essential in alleviating poverty and achieving long-term prosperity in Sarawak.

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