Perlis folk mad about harvesting machines spilling mud on roads
THE issue of harvesting machines spilling mud and dirt on roads is not new in the state. In fact, people often complain about it when the harvest season arrives. Convenience store employee Mohd Afiq Saidin, 31, said this year, he had fallen off his motorcycle twice after hitting a lump of dirt when returning home after work at night.
“The road was dark and I did not notice the lump, which was the size of a pail, in the middle of the road. Thank God, I suffered only minor injuries on my hand,” he said.
Resident Zharif Yahya, 41, said this had been going on for quite a while.
“You can ask the villagers. Most of them have hit lumps of dirt on the road.”
A harvesting machine operator, who wanted to be known only as Mat, 49, said they had to drive the machine on the road as the cost of hiring a lorry to transport the heavy machinery could reach up to RM300 per trip.
“The high cost is not worth it for a shortdistance trip,” said Mat, who had been managing his family’s harvesting machine business for the past 10 years.
He said he hoped the state government would build more plantation roads so that the machines could be transported without having to use the road.
Another operator, Mohd Sharoni Ramli, 31, said he and other harvesting machine operators had no choice but to use the road to transfer the machine.
“Most padi fields are located near roads, while plantations or village roads are far, which leave us with no choice but to use the roads.”