Street Lights from Gua Musang to Cameron Highlands

Gua Musang (GM), Kelantan to Cameron Highlands (CH) in Pahang is only about 1 ½ hours drive. The journey which is about 100 kilometers on that moderate road is truly enjoying if we are traveling in day time.

 Eventhough there are few landslides along the way, the cool breeze and greeneries plus the Orang Asli settlement on both sides of the road gives you a pleasant feeling and an experience of what local eco-tourism is all about.

 Nowadays, more local and foreign tourists are using this road to travel to and fro GM and CH for this is the shortest way and it’s also easy to get to the North South Highway through Simpang Pulai road.

 Unfortunately, traveling on the same road at night is totally a different story. For travelers, night driving along that stretch could be dangerous and probably a nightmare. Around 8pm, the whole road becomes so dark and traveling on that way can be quite risky.

 Few days ago my family and I were traveling back to GM from CH on that road. It was about 7.30pm. After about 40 minutes drive suddenly right in front of us we saw an oncoming motorbike skidded and fell on the middle of the road.

 I quickly got down from the car and managed to pull aside an elderly motorist who was badly injured. He lamented in pain that he hit a stone that was on the road and fell. I tried to stop two other cars that pass by to come to his aid but they didn’t do so.

 It was pitch dark and by the time I could pull aside the man’s motorcycle, a speeding truck ran over it and sped off in the darkness. Thank God, nothing happen to us. A little while latter, two motorists stop to help and took care of the injured man.

 Though it was very dangerous to stop our car in that dark road, we couldn’t leave the helpless man on the road unattended. Moreover, I couldn’t take him into my car either as it was full.

 You can imagine, what could have happened to the elderly injured motorist if he was unnoticed in the middle of the road in that dark night. This is not the first time we encounter such incidents. There were many accidents occurred in that road.

 I strongly urge the government to take immediate action to solve this problem by installing street lights along GM and CH road and also the road leading to Kuala Lipis, Pahang which is equally dark, for the safety of road users.

 The respective authorities should create emergency lanes and also install SOS telephone booths for the benefit of the public.

 I believe this will be the best time for the people of GM to demand for government’s quick action since it is Galas state by election on the 4^th November.

Henceforth, I hope the government will build good roads with public safety in mind to avoid more road accidents or any unwanted incidents.

Ends.

Pix: 

Pictures of accidents and land slide that occurred along Gua Musang and Cameron Highland roads.

Kumarathevan Balakrishnan

Gua Musang

PENDAPAT

Isnin Oktober 11, 2010

Pengalaman Menyaksikan Kemalangan di Jalan Cameron - Gua Musang

Oleh B. KUMARATHEVAN

GUA MUSANG: Jarak di antara Gua Musang (GM), Kelantan ke Cameron Highlands (CH) di Pahang adalah lebih kurang seratus kilometer sahaja. Perjalanan yang akan mengambil masa kira-kira 1 ½ jam di atas jalan itu adalah menyeronokkan terutamanya pada siang hari.

Walaupun terdapat beberapa kejadian tanah runtuh di sana sini, pemandangan di kedua-dua belah jalan berkenaan termasuk kehijauan alam semulajadi, hawa yang agak dingin dan juga penempatan Orang Asliadalah sesuatu yang amat menarik.

Ia juga memberi peluang kepada sesiapa sahaja merasai nilai pelancongan di kawasan pedalaman atau “eco-tourism”.

Pada masa kini, ramai pengguna jalan raya termasuk para pelancong dari dalam dan luar negara kerap menggunakan jalan berkenaan kerana ia adalah jalan singkat yang menghubung GM dan CH serta satu-satunya jalan terdekat untuk ke Lebuhraya Utara Selatan melalui Simpang Pulai.

Malangnya, perjalanan pada waktu malam agak berbahaya, malah ia juga mungkin menjadisatu pengalaman yang mengerikan kepada sesiapa sahaja khususnya kepada mereka yang tidak ada pengalaman menggunakan laluan ini.

Ini kerana sepanjang jalan tersebut agak gelap gelita dan memandu pada waktu malam adalah agak berisiko tinggi.

Beberapa hari yang lalu, kira-kira pukul 7.30 malam, saya dan keluarga saya sedang dalam perjalanan ke GM dari CH. Kira-kira 45 minit kemudian, kami terkejut melihat sebuah motosikal dari arah bertentangan tergelincir lalu terhumban di atas jalan tersebut.

Saya dengan segera bergegas untuk membantupenunggang motosikal tersebut. Lelaki yang berusia dalam lingkungan 40an itu mengeluh dalam kesakitan bahawa dia terlanggar batu di atas jalan itu dan gagal mengawal motosikalnya.

Saya cuba mendapatkan bantuan daripada duakenderaan lain yang lalu ketika itu malangnya mereka enggan berhenti. Kemudian saya dengan segera menarik lelaki berkenaan ke tepi jalan.

Sebelum saya dapat menarik motosikalnya yangberada di tengah jalan, sebuah trak yang laju merempuh motosikal berkenaan dan terus menghilangkan diri dalam kegelapan malam.

Nasib baiklah kami selamat dalan kejadian berkenaan. Beberapa minit kemudian, dua penunggang motosikal turut menghulurkan bantuan.

Walaupun jalan tersebut terlalu gelap untuk berhenti, tetapi kita rasa serba salah untuk membiarkan penunggang yangtercedera teruk itu di atas jalan raya walaupun pada masa itu kereta saya juga penuh dengan seisi keluarga.

Bayangkanlah apa yang mungkin terjadi sekiranya tidak ada orang yang melihat penunggang itu tersungkur dan berada di tengah-tengah jalan yang gelap gelita itu.

Ini bukanlah kali pertama, kami melihat kejadian sebegini di jalan berkenaan. Banyak kemalangan pernah berlaku di atas jalan tersebut selain kejadian tanah runtuh di beberapa tempat sepanjang jalan itu.

Saya menggesa pihak kerajaan untuk mengambil tindakan segera mengatasi masalah tersebut dengan memasang lampu jalan sepanjang GM ke CH serta jalan GM ke Kuala Lipis, Pahang yang turut gelap untuk keselamatan para pengguna jalan berkenaan.

Pihak berkuasa juga harus membina lorong kecemasan serta memasang pondok telefon SOS yang boleh digunakan pada waktu kecemasan di jalan berkenaan bagi kemudahan orang ramai meminta bantuan.

Saya juga rasa ini adalah waktu yang paling baik untuk menggesa kerajaan bertindak cepat lebih-lebih lagi ketika kawasan berkenaan berhadapan dengan pilihan raya kecil Dewan Undangan Negeri Galas pada 4 November akan datang.

Sebagai pengguna jalan raya, saya berharap kerajaan akan mengambil kira akan keselamatan para pengguna dan memberi perhatian kepada kejadian-kejadian seumpama ini.

PENULIS merupakan bekas wartawan di sebuah akhbar nasional berbahasa Malaysia

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SPEAK UP! :: Letters Road to Gua Musang needs street lights THE 100km drive from Gua Musang in Kelantan to Cameron Highlands in Pahang takes about 1½hours. Many motorists also use it to get to the North South Highway via the Simpang Pulai road.But at night the pleasant drive becomes a hazard. It becomes pitch dark by 7.30pm. A few days ago my family and I were travelling to Gua Musang from Cameron Highlands at about 7.30pm. After about 40 minutes of driving we saw an oncoming motorcyclist fall. I got down from the car and managed to pull aside the elderly motorist who was badly injured. He lamented in pain that he had lost control of his motorcycle after running into a stone on the road. Two other cars went by without stopping though I was waving frantically. Before I could pull aside the man’s motorcycle, a speeding lorry ran over it and sped off in the darkness. Thank God, nothing happened to us. A little while later, two motorists stopped to help and take care of the injured man. Though it was dangerous to stop our car in that dark road, we couldn’t leave the helpless man. I couldn’t take him into my car because it was full. You can imagine, what could have happened to the injured motorist if he was lying unnoticed in the middle of the road. Many accidents have occurred on that stretch of the road. I appeal to the government to install street lamps along the road and the road leading to Kuala Lipis in Pahang for the safety of road users. The authorities should add emergency lanes and install emergency telephone booths for the benefit of the public. I believe this is the best time for the people of Gua Musang to demand for prompt action since there is a by-election for the Galas state seat on Nov 4. I hope the government will build good roads with public safety in mind to prevent more road accidents or any unwanted incidents. Kumarathevan Balakrishnan Gua Musang