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NABAWAN – The flood-damaged road leading to rural Kg Pangaraan, which went viral on social media recently, is now accessible to vehicles, said Deputy Works Minister Datuk Arthur Kurup.
However, he said the repairs on the five damaged bridges along the 45km gravel stretch are still ongoing.
Kurup said some of the bridges were swept away by the floods, and repairs will take longer than initially expected.
He also thanked the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the Defence Ministry for assisting in flying basic aid and food to the affected areas.
“I wish to express my appreciation and thanks to Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein and the Royal Malaysian Air Force for providing two helicopters to send in food supplies to Kg Pengaraan,” he said in a statement.
Kurup also expressed his gratitude to RMAF for facilitating his trip to the affected areas, to monitor repair works.
The development came after Kurup said last week that repairs were due to be complete in time for the reopening of school today.
He said that the road and bridges were badly damaged due to irregular flooding, which was the worst the small rural district has seen in decades.
The road to Kg Pangaraan, a small village in the Tatalaan subdistrict in Nabawan caught media attention after several primary school teachers reportedly endured 18-hour hikes to the village in late April.
Meanwhile, several students were seen using a zipline to cross a river to get to SK Nangkawangan in Sook, while another school, SK Layn was also affected by the floods.
RMAF has recently deployed two EC 725 helicopters from its fifth squadron for the humanitarian mission.
The two aircraft brought rice, cooking oil, flour, sugar, milk, chicken, beef, fish, canned sardines, biscuits, and basic kitchen utensils, weighing around 1.35 tonnes. – The Vibes, June 13, 2022