Small airports in Sarawak ensure supplies reach isolated villages

The Ba’kelalan airport coordinates flights between Lawas and Bario STOLports as well as Miri Airport. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: While most airports lie dormant during the Covid-19 pandemic, short take-off and landing airports (STOLports) in Sarawak have been keeping busy serving as crucial entry points for supplies for villagers in the interiors.

One such airport is located in Ba’kelalan, a gruelling eight-hour journey by four-wheel drive away from the nearest town of Lawas.

Since the movement control order (MCO) started on March 18, Malaysian Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) has been operating 12 STOLports in the state to ensure isolated communities remained connected.

These villages have been relying on air transport for medical supplies as well as essentials such as sugar, cooking oil and flour, with the first mission flight from Miri landing at the Ba’kelalan STOLport in early April.

Aside from its critical involvement in channelling aid, the STOLports have also contributed economically, with locals receiving job opportunities and business prospects.

Michael Racha Agung, a Lun Bawang native airport operative, said the Ba’kelalan STOLport was crucial for quicker access to remote areas as these were hard to reach by land.

“Our priority is to ensure airfields and landing strips are operating like clockwork so that flights and cargo can reach us safely,” he said in a statement by MAHB.

Agung, who has worked at the STOLport for more than 20 years, said Ba’kelalan’s remote location was both a blessing and a curse as it delayed both the Covid-19 virus and critical aid from reaching communities there.

Alice Martin, who has worked at the same airport for more than 30 years, said the community was faced with new challenges since the Covid-19 pandemic.

One such challenge includes access to medical facilities, with the closest hospital located in Lawas.

“So the villagers here rely on the local health clinic which has a limited range of medicines and less sophisticated medical equipment to deal with this outbreak.

“We are working with Rela (the Malaysian Volunteer Corps) to ensure Ba’kelalan is prepared for any outbreak, even if we need to evacuate patients to Hospital Lawas by air,” she added.

STOLport staff such as Martin and Agung have been working closely with the Sarawak state government, the health and transport ministries and the aviation authorities to coordinate these flights.

The Ba’kelalan airport coordinates flights between Lawas and Bario STOLports as well as Miri Airport, with four weekly MASwings flights for returning locals, cargo helicopters and ad-hoc flights by the health ministry’s Flying Doctors of Malaysia medical services.- FMT