KUALA BERANG: Determined healthcare workers at Hospital Hulu Terengganu (HHT) utilised excavators to reach their patients after light vehicles were unable to traverse floods.
Rosliza Yusoff, a nurse, 40, from Kampung Lebak, said that every monsoon season, Jalan Paya Besar would be flooded, and the excavator became their primary transportation to work.
"Our experience every year since 2009 while working at HHT has compelled us to use an excavator as the main means of transport to work when the main road is flooded.
"Our duty is crucial because the hospital requires our services to take care of the patients, so floods do not hinder us from coming to work," she said.
Rosliza added that using an excavator usually depends on the water levels on the affected road.
She and her colleagues living in Kuala Berang would gather to use the excavator when both directions of the road are flooded, either from Kuala Terengganu or Kuala Berang.
Meanwhile, HHT nursing assistant Khalijah Awang, 57, from Kampung Bukit Tok Bat, said she also used an alternative route through Wakaf Tapai, Marang, to reach HHT.
"However, the road is flooded from Kuala Terengganu to Kuala Berang, near Kampung Batu 22.
"I circled back to the Paya Besar intersection, hoping to find the excavator usually provided by JKR aiming to help healthcare workers to traverse the flooded area on their way to work," she said.
Khalijah said that since serving at HHT 30 years ago, she has used the excavator to reach HHT every year if floods overflow on Jalan Paya Besar.
Ahmad Firdaus Yusoff, a physiotherapy therapist from Kampung Pulau Kudat, said he was supposed to start work at 7.30am. However, the road was flooded upon reaching the intersection of Kampung Paya Besar.
He said he tried an alternative route, but upon reaching Jalan Batu 22, that route was also flooded.
He then returned to Jalan Paya Besar to get to HHT, where two excavators belonging to the Public Works Department (JKR) were available to transport healthcare workers to HHT.
"During my ten years of service at HHT, I have used the excavator several times to cross a flooded route of over 100 meters to get to the hospital.
"I am determined to reach my workplace despite facing various obstacles during this monsoon season," he said.