ROMANCING THE RAILWAY

Train rides, as do journeys by ships evoke notions of romance and intrigues; something that does not happen with airplanes. The first (and last ) time I rode the Sabah train was more than 10 years ago. For those who have foregone that pleasure, I can assure them that it is as comfortable as sitting on the wooden bench in a pick-up truck.

I found no romance then. Probably it is just a conspiracy by western writers to sell their stuff. Or perhaps it’s just me. Anyway, the government is supposed to be spending RM300 million to upgrade the total train ride experience. It was meant to be completed in May this year but judging by what we can all see on the ground, the pace is exceedingly slow, or is this just how railway projects are supposed to be implemented?

I wonder why no one is complaining.

It is sad because we need good and sufficient infrastructure network to get us out of the poorest state status. A road engineer friend tells me that our road density index is only about 0.1 whereas the optimum should be 0.5, which has been attained by peninsular Malaysia ages ago.

This means that vast tracts of our state cannot be developed because of poor access. This hurts land owners, in this case mostly rural folks. Whatever they can manage to produce will never find the market. They are being marginalized even though they are important stakeholders of our statehood.

It also means having isolated schools where good teachers avoid going to. It means communities with stunted growth. It also means people not getting access to adequate health care. I have heard enough stories of a pregnant mother dying because there is no vehicle to take her to the hospital.

The ball park figure is that we are more than 20 years behind peninsular Malaysia in terms of economic development. 20 years of missed opportunities cannot be our legacy for the next generation.

The sheer size of our state is part of the problem, but therein also lies untold potentials to be realized. The 9th Malaysia Plan has lists of roads and bridges and schools waiting their turn to be funded, and to be completed. It’s a slow process and it’s OK if they are completed in due time. Sabahans are a patient lot.

Be that as it may, the primacy and urgency of economic development should be obvious. There must be something wrong when there are some of us who cannot see this urgency. At the stage of development we are in, completing projects on time is a moral imperative. We cannot wait a minute more.

Note: Published in the Daily Express on Aug 3, 2008