Batulicin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Muara Uri villagers in the Sub-district of Hampang, are expecting Regent of Kotabaru, South Kalimantan, to open up the access for the village by building road infrastructure.
"We are hoping that the regional government, especially Regent of Kotabaru, to open (build) access road from Juhubincatan Hamlet to Manggun Hamlet, Muara Uri Village, Hampang Sub-district, so that the inhibitants are not isolated," said a teacher of elementary school SDN Induk Muara Uri, Dul Latif, in Batulicin, Wednesday.
He said the two hamlets are far away from the main village of Muara Uri. To get to the village it takes about ten hours to travel and can only be reached on foot.
There is no adequate access road for motorized vehicle. People living here only rely on human-sized footpath.
If they want to go to the sub-district town, people in Juhubincatan Hamlet or in Manggun Hamlet are forced to take time days considering the length of the journey as consequences of inadequate roads.
Read also: Kotabaru PUPR builds a bridge to connect isolated village
Dul Latif, who works at SDN Muara Uri, acknowledged the difficulty to access Mangun Hamlet (from Juhubincatan Hamlet) and is made worse by unavailability of bridge connectng the two hamlets that are separated by a river.
"The width of the river is about 50 meters. To make it easier, local residents built an emergency bridge made of bamboo tied together with steel wire," Dul explained.
The number of residents living in the hamlet is around 40 families (KK) or approximately 200 people. Their jobs mostly planters and farmers.
The plant pecans, cinnamon and chocolate. The yields then taken to the main village close to the sub-district town of Hampang to be sold or exchange for basic needs.
But they have to carry their products by shoulders or relying on human power. When it rains, they have to spend the night in the middle of the journey by installing a tent, because the journey is quite far.
Residents of Juhubincatan Hamlet and Manggun Hamlet really hope for the government's attention to build roads in the village.
The reason, Dul continued, most of them are no longer able to carry their garden products on shouders to sell them to the sub-district town due to age.
Read also: Kotabaru PUPR prepares village road access improvement along 2,405 meters
