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Orang Asli ride 10 hours to get food supplies at Gua Musang

GUA MUSANG: A group of 15 Orang Asli from Pos Balar took a 10-hour journey on 13 motorcycles yesterday to reach here to buy groceries after their food supply ran out a week ago.

The Temiar tribesmen had to use the river route as the logging road, which served as their main land route, was damaged due to continuous rain these past weeks. At one point, they had to ford Sungai Inching while carrying their motorcycles.

Abu Alang, 41, a villager of Kampung Tidog, Pos Balar said they had subsisted on tapioca and garden vegetables for a week before deciding to head out to town to buy some dry goods.

"We had to use the river route as we had run out of food.

"Usually if we don't have food at home, we could borrow some from neighbours but this time everyone ran out," he said here today.

Fellow villager, Sari Din, 25, said it would only take them five hours to get to Gua Musang if they used the logging road but it was impassable.

"We came out as a group so that we would have an easier time when we had to carry our motorcycles across Sungai Inching or push them out of the mud when they got stuck.

"We did not know how high the water level of the river would be, so we left at 7am and reached town at 5pm. That's why we had to stay overnight in Gua Musang before leaving this morning," he added.

Sari said that come every rainy season, the Orang Asli had no choice but to face damaged roads and fording rivers as those were the only routes available to those who have been living in the village for generations. — BERNAMA

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