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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Buffaloes used to send the sick to hospital in Sabah

KOTA MARUDU - Life is difficult for the residents of Kg Niatang in Pitas, one of the most remote settlements in the northern part of the mostly Dusun populated region of Sabah.

So much so, that when a member of the settlement falls too sick and requires medical attention, family members are forced to seek help from owners of four-wheel-drive vehicles to transport their loved ones to the main road so that they can get to their vehicles to go to the nearest clinic or hospital.

However, in some situations, some have even had to resort to using livestock animals namely buffaloes to draw makeshift carts if left with no other alternative.

Difficult as it may seem, this is among the only ways to ensure their sick family members obtain medical help in hospital.

One such case involved villager Bojong Mokiling, who according to his son-in-law, Albert Madin, is in his 70s and partially paralysed.

"But despite his advanced age and condition, his mind is still active," he said.

He said Bojong is on hospital medication but his situation was getting worse.

"So, his children decided to give Chinese medicine a try," he said, adding that the picture was taken when they were transporting Bojong to the main road, which is about 1.5km from the village.

He said getting a small car like a Kancil into Niatang is simply an impossible task because of the condition of the road, even during the dry season.

"It was for this reason that we had to use our ingenuity and we came up with the idea of using a buffalo to pull a crude cart made from planks and boards that we salvaged," he said.

Given his father-in-law's was a semi paralysed condition he did not suffer from the discomfort of the jolts and bouncing during the rough ride.

Albert said there is an alternative route to the main road in the adjacent village but the distance is longer although it is a gravelled road.

He said there are only about 50 people in Kg Niatang and because of that the village is often ignored or sidelined from mainstream development.

Towards this end, he hoped the government would notice the villagers' plight and do something to alleviate their predicament.

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