Speaking to FMT, Saddi said the bridge, which could have shortened travel time between Kinabatangan and Lahad Datu by more than one hour, had been promised to the voters since 2010.
The construction of the bridge could help boost the local economy because travellers going to Lahad Datu could cross the river using the bridge instead of making a big turnaround to get back to the main road.
Currently, Saddi said only tourists who want to see the wildlife in the area would travel to Sukau, thus limiting the local economic potential to only specific segments.
He believed by building the bridge, travellers would be more motivated to travel through the road because of the shorter distance and opportunity to see the wildlife on the way.
“It was part of my 10-year plan to develop Sukau from a backwater village into a thriving district by 2020. The bridge was the most important component of the whole project,” he said.
Currently, the people in Sukau, on both sides of the Kinabatangan River, rely only on a ferry service provided by IOI Plantations, that operates the oil palm plantation on one side but has its oil palm mill on the other side of the river.
Unfortunately, the ferry service will not operate unless at full capacity. This means villagers sometimes have to wait for hours before they manage to get to the new Sukau township.
Saddi had based his past election campaign on the construction of the bridge and admitted the failure to deliver on the promise could affect his chances of retaining the seat.
Already, he said opposition parties, especially Parti Warisan Sabah, were using the issue against him, by telling the people that the plan to build the bridge was scrapped “because the government was afraid of international NGOs”.
“The people are asking me, why must we bow to pressure from some international bodies? Humans are as important as wildlife, too. Even I don’t know how to answer this.”
Plans for the RM223 million Sukau bridge caused outrage after it was alleged that the project would be on the migratory path of the endangered Borneo pygmy elephants.
The campaign against the construction of the bridge was led by NGOs, especially Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), whose director Dr Benoit Goossens warned that the bridge will follow a route through the Sukau area which has the largest concentration of elephant movements.
Last year, the UK Guardian published an article headlining English veteran broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough’s concerns over the proposed bridge that would span 350m across the Kinabatangan River, threatening one of the last sanctuaries of the rare Bornean pygmy elephant.
On the other hand, Saddi insisted the bridge will have no effect on the wildlife because it will be built over the migratory path and using roads which are already in place.
The Kinabatangan Conservation Area is described as “Sabah’s Gift to the Earth” and has been dubbed the “Corridor of Life”.
Several proposals have been put forward by Saddi to offset the supposed endangerment of wildlife in the area such as eco-viaducts, but even this proposal was shot down due to the high cost and unproven effectiveness of such facilities.
The Sabah government was pressured by international bodies to reconsider the bridge proposal and eventually Sabah forest chief conservator Sam Mannan announced that the Sabah government will not proceed with the project.
He said this in his speech at the Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Partnership dinner held at the Royal Society in London.
However, Saddi is still confident the bridge will proceed eventually but perhaps at another more suitable but less controversial site.
“I am encouraged because the government never said the project is cancelled. It is just put on hold for the time being. I must insist on it because without it, Sukau cannot develop further than it is now.
“People questioned my stubbornness on the issue, accusing me of wanting the timber in the area by bulldozing the jungle. What jungle? There is no jungle, just oil palm trees.
“The roads are already in place, we don’t have to build roads any more.
“We just want the bridge to connect the roads on both sides of the river so we can help the villagers and give them better lives. That is all,” he said.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2011/09/12/a-way-out-for-trapped-borneo-elephants/