Azizan Yunus
The fifty odd families in Parit Wak Kawek, Benut, Pontian are earnestly hoping that the relevant authority will take immediate action to replace the unsafe and dilapidated wooden bridge before some untoward incidents happened.
The run-down wooden bridge spanning one hundred fifty feet long situated some 2 km from the Tampok Laut junction is the only link connecting Parit Wak Kawek to Tampok.
The residents have been using the wooden bridge daily including school going children and the farmers going to the town to sell their produce like fresh fruit bunch (oil palm fruits) and fruits, said Bachok Weland, 62, a resident who has been using the wooden bridge since he was a young boy.
A worried Bachok said, those days only pedestrians and motorcycles are using the dilapilated wooden bridge, but now cars and even lorries are passing through the bridge daily.
Another resident, Ismail Latis, 36, duly expressed his concern over the current stability and safety factor of the worn-out wooden bridge.
“The situation pose an even greater concern when the whole wooden bridge is being flooded by the river water during high tide especially so when school children and elderly folks need to cross the bridge,” he lamented.
Azmi Ahmad, also a resident of Parit Wak Kawek said that this long standing issue has been brought to the attention of their member of parliament and also the relevant authority on several occasions but nothing has come out of it.
He said the residents need a more stable and permanent bridge to replace the existing dilapidated wooden bridge urgently.
Azmi added that the Pontian Member of Parliament office has in 2008 and also in 2010 acknowledged that the existing wooden bridge needs to be replaced.
But, he was later told that there are still cross jurisdiction issue that needs to be addressed as Parit Wak Kawek is located between Benut (Pontian) and Batu Pahat border.
He said a new application has already been forwarded to the state development department and is still under consideration.
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