Sabah roads cut off by mudslides

KOTA KINABALU - Two mudslides - five kilometres apart - along the main Kota Kinabalu – Ranau road that links Sabah’s west coast to east coast have left hundreds of motorists stranded.

Large boulders and earth washed down to the road Km88 and Km83 in Kg Kiau area of Kota Belud at around noon temporarily cutting off two-way traffic from either Kota Kinabalu to Kundasang, Ranau and east coast Sandakan at about noon on Wednesday.

"It is mudflow, the contractors are working on it now, they expect it to be completed by midnight,’’ Sabah Public Works Department director Datuk John Anthony said when contacted.

He said the landslips and mud flows hitting many roads especially along the Crocker Range were due to heavy rains experienced in Sabah over the last several weeks.

Earlier last month, at least eight major and minor landslips hit hilly roads with the worst the most serious hitting the main Kota Kinabalu to interior Tambunan and Keningau trunk road.

Most of the roads have been made temporarily passable though major rehabilitation is expected to be carried out over the next few months.

The PWD urged drivers intending to head into Ranau or other east coast towns to use the longer northern Kota Marudu-Paitan road or the Tambunan-Ranau road to get around the land slip.