BELURAN: For the more than 1,000 residents of Pulau Keniogan, falling seriously ill can mean gambling with their lives and paying up to RM500 just to reach help.
With no full-time doctor and only a government clinic offering basic maternal and child health services, islanders must hire private boats to get to Beluran Hospital in emergencies.
There is no dedicated emergency boat and rough seas often make the one-hour journey perilous.
Sometimes, patients die before reaching the hospital.
“We’ve had people die en route. That’s the reality,” said Kamarzaman Marof, secretary of the local village security and development committee.
In urgent situations, villagers scramble to find an available boat – often in vain, and at times the sea is too rough to cross.
Apart from these, the villagers also have to bear high fees to charter a boat.
Kamarzaman said the fare is shared among passengers, and the amount depends on the number of people and cargo on board.
“If it is shared by three or four people, it’s about RM300 one way. But if there are more than five passengers with goods, the fee can go up to RM500,” he said.
The residents are pleading for a full-time doctor and an official emergency boat.
Community leader Muhammad Safari Akhli said the problem has persisted for years, costing lives along the way.
“Crossing the sea to Beluran isn’t just about time or money, it’s about survival.
“There were cases of boats capsizing and people drowning. It’s dangerous and we are scared,” he said.
Pulau Keniogan, located in Beluran – a coastal district in northeast Sabah – is one of Malaysia’s ten poorest areas, according to the Statistics Department.
