More than 1,000 residents of the village located in Melamam sub-district hope that the candidate elected to the Sipitang parliamentary seat in the 15th general election (GE15) can finally end the 'fatigue' of villagers agonising over 128 km on the gravel road every day to Sipitang town to buy daily items.
According to residents, the journey on the red earth road takes between five and seven hours, depending on the weather, and there are times when they cannot go out to town during the rainy season as the road is very slippery or cut off by flooding.
Kampung Long Pasia head Yakub Sim, 57, said their most important need is the 'sick' road that needs repair even though the route has long been the heart of communication for the villagers in the interior of Sabah.
"The thing we want most is the road, which is the most challenging issue but we hope that it will be resolved by the future leaders in this area," he told Bernama.
Kampung Long Pasia, which is located in the Meligan Highlands at an altitude of 1,000 metres above sea level and more than 300 km from Kota Kinabalu, is famous for eco-tourism with the majority of its population consisting of the Lundayeh ethnic group.
Yakub said that apart from the road, he hoped the electricity supply project through solar generators which was abandoned, can be resumed so residents will not have to use generators since fuel costs RM300 to RM400 a month.
The Rural Electricity Supply Project (BELB) Hybrid Solar System at Station 2 in Kampung Long Pasia was implemented through direct negotiation (design and build) in 2017 and was supposed to be completed in 2019, but was abandoned until today even though housing and equipment such as generators have been completed.
He very much welcomed the arrival of GE15 candidates to hear out the the villagers and hoped the candidate who wins the parliamentary seat would listen to their yearning for a more comfortable life.
Former Sabah footballer, Mafry Balang, 38, also expressed the same wish that the road to Kampung Long Pasia be upgraded, in stages if not in its entirety.
The native of Kampung Long Pasia also suggested that the road be paved using cement to link residents to the outside world.
"For a long time until today, our (gravel) road has not changed, our hope as voters here (Long Pasia) is that if our candidate wins, he can repair the road to Long Pasia," said the football defender who once represented Sabah, Melaka, Sarawak and Penang between 2005 to 2019.
Mafry also requested that an open hall be built in the village so residents can hold public events and communal activities.
Kaluah Mangalu, 60, a resident of Kampung Meligan which is 43 km from Kampung Long Pasia, also hopes that the Meligan water treatment plant, which is seen to be ready, will be operational in the near future to supply clean, treated water to the village.
He said that currently the village's residents, who are from the Murut tribe, depend on gravity water supply for daily use.
"We hope that the winning candidate can speed up the supply of clean water, solar hybrid (electricity), road upgrade and new pre-school buildings because currently pupils hold classes in village houses," he said.
The Sipitang parliamentary seat will see a three-way fight between Datuk Matbali Musah of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Lahirul Latigu (Pakatan Harapan) and Datuk Adnan Puteh on a Parti Warisan ticket.
-- BERNAMA
