Jalan Babagon-Timpango, A Public Car Wash?

Direction South East of Kampung Babagon in the Penampang District is Kampung Timpango which engulfs the other smaller kampungs, Kampung Sungoi, Kampung Tintap and Kampung Manansawong. Kampung Tintap which boarders with Kampung Babagon itself, only separated only by the Moyog River, stretches for more than a mile long. It is as long as the Tintap stream, the origin of the name of the Kampung. For ease of reference therefore, Kampung Tintap has an upper region as well as a lower region. The distance of the furthest southern reaches of Kampung Timpango from Kampung Babagon is estimated to be more than ten kilometers, boardering with the frienges of the Crocker Range. The total population of all the kampungs (villages) within the bigger Kampung Timpango is quite considerable, so deserving of the establishment of a Ketua Kampung (Village Chieftan) and a JKKK, (Village Development and Security Committee), like any other big kampungs or groups of kampungs. The economic activities of the people in general are quite varried. Quite a number of them are rubber tappers, tapping their own small-holdings, while the rest are generally cash-crop producers, planters of pineapples, lengkuas, lemon grass, pandan and other generally termed land-produce. They also plant pineapples for the ‘pineapple-flowers’ which are quite on demand especially towards and during the Chinese New Year. They are also required by the regular customers almost every fortnight for their distributions within Sabah and Labuan. They are the essential requirements for some religious purposes. The Tolungan Native and Grazing Reserve which covers the whole stretch of areas of Kampung Tintap and Kampung Manansawong is within the administrative sphere of the larger Kampung Timpango. The Reserve as a whole is well-subscribed and utilised by the inhabitants of all the Kampungs within the larger Kampung Timpango. Very few, if any at all, of the residents of Kampung Babagon, save for some people from Kampung Timpoluwon, have gricultural activities in the Tolungan Native and Grazing Reserve. The Babagon-Timpango road was constructed in 1999 just before 10^th Malayia General Election. It was considered an ‘election-approved’ project and the Chief Minister himself was believed to be resposible for its approval. At that time some of the negative thinkers of Kampung Timpango who were easily influenced by negative outside thoughts, the traditional opposing elements to any status quo, and whose identities had been hopefully made known to the politial leaders, were reported to have said, “Otopot no do oitom ino talun-alun do dumampot doid kampung tokou, nga, hobi po initom do tuhu tuhun mantad Malaya do mikot sumovohi dotokou diti kampung tokou.” What those individuals were trying to express was far from the result of logical thinking. The road, Babagon-Timpango road, is now a reality. It has brought much convenience to the inhabitants of Kampung Timpango and all the other kampungs. It stretches all along the eastern boarders of the Tolungan Native and Grazing Reserve for miles, giving much convenience to the cash-crops planters in the Reserve Land. The people of Kampung Timpango and other kampungs served by the tarred Babagon-Timpango road have bought motor vehicles for their own use. There are not less than 20 motorcycles frequenting the road everyday. They are all owned by the younger people of the area. Extention of the road to Ulu Sungoi, in the East, and, over the hill to Kampung Tulung to the South, have been started. On a good weather, they could even be made use of by any four-wheel powered vehicle. Other long-term economic activties of this area are the Projek Industri Geta (Rubber Industry Project). There are two or three phases of hundreds of acres of land being cleared, terraced, and planted with high-yielding rubber trees. All these activities are fully funded by the Rubber Industry Board. The planted rubber trees are looked after until they have matured. The whole project would then be handed over to the owner to be worked on. The Rubber Industry Board will only require the owner to sell their rubber sheets or rubber latex back to them. With all these almost God-given assistants, conviniences and facilities provided for freely, there are still talks heard around from among some of the ungrateful receipients, “we sell some to the Lembaga Getah but we also sell more to the Persenderian”. Very ungrateful line of thinking! Where on earth, not to mention in the Heavens, can such ‘spoon-feeding’ be found if not in Malaysia only, and in this case, in Timpango only? Yet, the people are not grateful! The river-road fording has been professionally completed and cemented making it convenient for vehicles to cross save during a big flood. It also adds to the beauty of the river. The Moyog river in fact has also been subjected to many cleanliness campaigns and protection. The slogans, ‘Love Your River’, co-sponsored by a Newspaper, the YB of a few years ago and some NGOs, and ‘Don’t throw rubbish into the river!’ does not carry much meaning. Although there are Gotong Royong organised to clean the river banks, cars and big lorries are ‘permitted’ to be washed of their dirt in the river. The whole stretch of the river-width at that river fording is strung with cars and other vehicles, bumper to bumper, being washed in the river. Lorries sometimes are parked in the middle of the river, on the cemented vehicle fording, being washed of their oil-soiled canvas sheet covers in the river water rendering the clear water into something black and murky dirt. There are not less than three kampung community leaders holding responsible positions in Government and at kampung level staying very closeby the river fording. They cannot avoid but notice such ‘throwing of rubbish in the river’, so to speak. One of them has been made aware of the water polution. He had commented, “Otopot, konii! Zinamut do tumau, kapatai do sada!” But, he did not do anything about it. The Government Fisheries Station in Babagon has vested interests in the river pool further downstream from that river fording of the Babagon-Timpango road. It is keeping assorted fish in the river pool under the River Tagal System. Some of the fish, as generally said and feared by the kampung people, have left the pool eversince this deliberate and persistent washing of vehicles upstream was started. In fact, nobody in a position to react is not aware of these almost-every-evening activities. The culprits are mostly outsiders from Kota Kinabalu, presumeably, and beyond. But the local problem, it is again presumed, is the “tidak apa-ism” attitude on the part of so many strata of community leaders. Some years ago this case, the washing of dirty vehicles in the river, was brought to the attention of the elected peoples’ Representative through a reliable ‘inside’ personnel. Nothing was heard of any action taken although pictures a lot of pictures have been handed over as evidence. What was generally heard of coming from nobody in particular was, “bagus gia iho, kita kena bikin tempat umum untuk suci kereta”. (It’s good, we’ve been especially provided with a public place for a car-wash!).