Rural folk happy nature still provides, but running low on others
MIRI: While the imposition of the movement control order (MCO) has caused hardship to many, some folk in the interior here are thankful that they still have jungles and rivers to provide them with food since they are unable to travel to the city to purchase rations. Long Selawan villager Oliver Uchat, 30, said he has not travelled to Miri city since the start of the MCO on March 18, but has had no problem adapting to the situation like many other rural folk. “Most rural folk have survival skills. Even though we cannot buy our rations in Miri, we are thankful that we at least have the rivers for sources of protein and the jungle for meat and fruits. “As for rice, we have paddy that we harvested last year, which can last us up to three months,” he said. Oliver said prior to the MCO, he would transport villagers to Miri at least twice a week for them to a end to hospital appointments or to buy their monthly rations. Despite being covered in terms of basic food, he said villagers are slowly running out of other rations such as cooking oil, sugar, coffee and salt. “I’m also running out of feed for my poultry, which I usually get from Miri because it’s cheaper than buying from the village canteen. “But now, even the canteen has run out of feed and there is no way for them to replenish their stock,” he said. Meanwhile in Long Kevok, a Penan village in the Apoh region of Baram, folk there have been barred from going to others areas or villages to ensure they remain free of Covid-19. “If there is an urgent need for rations, we will arrange for transport to bring them to Long Bedian to buy the supplies,” headman Lukas Seman said, adding however that some rations are already out of stock there. The Long Bedian bazaar is the closest to Long Kevok, about an hour’s journey using a fourwheel-drive (4WD) vehicle. For villagers in Long Jegan in Tinjar, they have had to travel to Lapok bazaar to get their rations since the start of the MCO due to shortages in their own area. Headman Francis Ubi said the villagers would travel to the bazaar either using a 4WD or longboat – both about an hour’s journey each way. “Even though prices at the bazaar are slightly higher, the villagers have no choice as they cannot go to Miri to buy their rations,” he said. With at least two more weeks to go until the end of the MCO, the villagers said they are hoping the government sends in food assistance such as rice, sugar, cooking oil and salt, as they have not received any such aid thus far.