The road is the ‘door of opportunity’ – Hajah Hasnah
Telok Melano, SEMATAN: The road from Telok Melano to Sematan, with a distance of about 40 km, has been described by a local resident as the ‘door of opportunity’ that has greatly eased the lives of some 600 families living at this southern tip of the State.
Hajah Hasnah binti Mat, 82, said she could not have imagined that she would have the chance to see the road completed in her lifetime if it were not to the hard work of the late Chief Minister of Sarawak Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, who was also a former Tanjung Datu assemblyman.
“He told us once that if Telok Melano is not included in the Pan Borneo Highway, then he told the relevant agencies, it might as well no need to build the whole road.
“So, the Federal Government has to include Telok Melano as part of the Pan Borneo Highway,” Hajah Hasnah told Kembara UKAS at her son’s resort last night.
With the completion of the Pan Borneo Highway starting from Telok Melano completed in 2018, the locals here finally can heave a sigh of relief.
“You know, we have endured hardship all of our lives living here as the nearest town from here is Sematan, which is 8 hours walk from here during landas season (rainy season),” she said, adding that the other alternative was using boat from Sematan.
Hajah Hasnah said, among the challenges she will never forget during the landas season was when they have to swim across three major rivers to reach Sematan to send their children to school.
“You know, whenever we crossed these rivers, we have to pray that the crocodiles would not harm us as we were carrying our young children crossing the rivers by makeshift raft,” she said.
She reminisced that the hardship they have to faced in the past were further aggravated by the threat of communist terrorists and robbers from Kalimantan.
“There was an incident, when my late husband was in Sematan to buy provisions, and I was left alone with the children. That night, I have readied seven cartridges and ready to use our shotgun in case the communist terrorists were to come and harass us, I would have shot them. Come what may, I have to defend my young children. But thanked God, they didn’t bother us,” recalled Hajah Hasnah.
After that incident, there were more security forces stationed at Telok Melano to ward off the communists.
Looking forward, Hajah Hasnah advised the younger generation to value the sacrifices of past leaders who have helped them to attain a much better life now.
“My advice to the younger generation is to focus on education as it is crucial in order to break us from the clutches of property and to attain better future.
“And now that Telok Melano has been connected to the rest of Sarawak, we must take every available opportunity to improve our livelihood,” she added.
