Baling Residents Relieved as Temporary Bridge is Ready Before Hari Raya Aidiladha

By Michelle Liew

The residents of Kampung Iboi can finally breathe a sigh of relief when the temporary bridge built to replace the existing concrete bridge in the village, which was destroyed by strong currents in the headwaters and floods last Monday, will be completed by tomorrow.

Chairman of the Iboi Village Development and Security Committee, Abu Hassan Samah explained that it will facilitate the daily activities of the villagers, especially during the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration, coming Sunday.

The construction of the bridge will clearly benefit almost 3,000 residents in the surrounding areas, including Kampung Masjid Iboi, Kampung Bok Bak and Kampung Tanjung Luas, including school-going children and those villagers frequenting the nearby mosques.

I am very grateful to the government for speeding up this temporary measure for the villagers to commute. If there is no temporary bridge, the residents who had to travel to school had to turn around Bokbak to follow Kuala Kuar, Padang Tiak and return. They would take 15 or 20 minutes compared to now, which only takes them 5 minutes,” he said.

The construction of this temporary bridge will shorten residents’ travel distance.

It’s really easy to send your children to school, the mosque is over there, and you can go for Friday prayers. It saves time and makes it easier, and we really plan to build a concrete bridge. This is only temporary,” said a contractor, Mohamad Noor Abdul Rahman.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Works, Datuk Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman stated that the bridge installation work involved 20 staff from the Road Division and Mechanical Works Branch, Kedah Public Works Department (JKR), assisted by 10 members of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM).

He said the 90-feet-long and 18-feet-wide bridge could accommodate loads of up to five tonnes in one direction.

This construction did not involve any cost, as all materials used to build the bridge and the heavy machinery used, belong to, or was obtained from the JKR store.