MONKEY BRIDGE BY MONKEY PROMISE

Dear Editor,

IT'S BEEN a year since the last big flood in Kg Kionsom that destroyed one old house by the river last year and a few infrastructure that was old and fully obsolete due to wear and tear.

Suspension bridge has also been destroyed, with only skeleton of the cables is still holding onto the end of each side of the bridge to ensure that villagers could pass by the river to their houses to run errands, send children to school and even sending the sick to the hospital.

Requests after request had been forwarded to the JKKK of Kg Kobuni, Kg Kionsom and Kg Kiapad to ensure the suspension bridge in Mile 41/2 could be repaired. At least the cables to be streghthen, pulled to its original position so that it wont be slunting like what we are seeing in the photos attached, however, to no avail nobody wants to be bothered on the safety of the users who are ranging from children to old men and women.

However, assistance was made to other parts of the river banks such as the gabion were put as high and as strong as the walls in some part of the lower section of the river of which the flood badly damaged the wooden house of an old men. Its such a sorry state to know when the needs of those who has to depend their daily lives on this dilapidated bridge had been ignored by the main committee, letters and requests had been passed around to all the JKKK but nobody seems to know what is going on under their nose, yet 1Malaysia slogan - rakyat didahulukan is not seen to be practiced anywhere in Kg Kionsom.

In order not to jeopardise the lives of those users, we had put up some planks of woods and tried to ensure there are places to put our steps on the dilapidated bridge with our own money. However, without the assistance of these so called JKKK, the use of our tax money to assist ourselves is not in good hand, but was apparently obviously used for other places that does not benefit us as taxpayers directly.

We hope that hotline could assist to post this plight of us to have the bridge particurlarly the suspension bridge at Kg Kionsom, Mile 41/2, beside the tyre factory to be repaired by the authorities in charge of the village as soon as possible. The same plight was published 7 years ago, and Datuk Johnny Goh did response immediately and ensured the suspension bridge being repaired at no time.

We thank him for his immediate response then. However, after years of usage, with our own repairs, the recent big flood had damaged the whole system that make us unable to maintain it to its original position.

If the suspension bridge is no longer accesible, a small bridge for the cars to pass over would be greatly appreciated as there are more than 5 families staying on the other side of the river whose accessed solely depends on this suspension bridge.

Thank you in advance.

KG KIONSOM RESIDENCE

- Sabahkini