Mengkabong houses face hige tide threat

Mengkabong houses face high tide threat

by Abd Naddin Hj Shaiddin

TUARAN: For the last 10 years, residents of Kampung Nelayan in Mengkabong near here have had to endure a daily routine--when the tide rises, their houses ara submerged in water, sometimes up to two feet deep.

Some 50 households in the water village, one of the state's oldest and biggest, face this ordeal daily, but they just endure it as they have no choice.

"Every time the tide comes ini, the water will enter our houses, and sometimes it can be two feet deep.

"We have to wait for the water to subside, and can only go to bed at two or three in the morning," said Mohd Zain Mal, 46.

Mohd.Zain said the villagers are forced to sit in their chairs with their feet wet while waiting fot the water to recede.There is not much they can do as they do not have land or houses on higher ground to escape to, he added.

Once, he said, he woke up to find the water had reaches his knees, much to the amusement of the children.

One of his children recently graduated ini economics from University Malaysia Sabah.

"We hope our lives will get better," he said recently.

Another resident, Osman Biut, said every night, the villagers have to wait for the tide to recede before they can go to bed.

"Sometimes, the fish would enter the houses, and the children would have fun catching them," he added.

While valuables have to be kept higher, household appliances would be submerged in water at high tide, he added.

The problem, he said, started some 10 years ago whe the pillars of their houses slowly sank into ground, so that houses that were five feet above water lever were now only two feet above it.

Meanwhile, Rosli Muin,37, appealed to Government to provide the villagers with new houses.

Being artisanal fishermen, the villagers do not earn much. According to Rosli, they typically get RM20 when they go out to sea, and that is before the cost of fuel, which comes to around RM10, is factored in.

In bad weather, they sometimes come back empty-handed, he said, while the fish traps they set in the sea last only a week before they are destroyed by trawlers enroaching into their area.

Kampung Buansa Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) Secretary, Tair Haji Mohd Nordin, 51, said besides Kg Nelayan and Kg Buansa, the villages in Mengkabong affected by the tide are Kampung Tembilok, Kampung Mempelam, Suang Kumaan, Gerinsing,Pesurun,Jembulang, Dombi and Separuk.

Tair expressed hope that the Goverment would expedite the implementation of the PPRT housing scheme for the hardcore ppor it promised earlier.

"However, we are happy that Rural and Regional Development Minister, Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib come to visit Mengkabong and approved an allocation of RM40 million for the construction of 1,000 houses," he said.

-The Borneo Post, Monday December 1, 2008