Left high and dry: The water level at Sungai Tembeling, which has dropped and caused sandbars to form, makes it hard for Kampung Gusai folk to fish, take children and teachers to school and drives up the cost of goods. — Bernama
KUANTAN: Extreme heat and dry conditions since April have led to the formation of sandbars measuring about 100m wide and 200m long in Sungai Tembeling, Jerantut, badly affecting the rural residents of Kampung Gusai.
Kampung Gusai, located on the remote banks of the river within Taman Negara, is accessible only via a logging road and the river.
The village lies after Kampung Mat Daling, Kampung Bantai, Kampung Sungai Kuching, Kampung Kuala Sat and Kampung Pagi.
According to Kampung Gusai village head Ahmad Abu Bakar, 66, only three of the village’s over 200 folk have four-wheel-drive vehicles, with the rest relying on small boats and rafts for transportation.
“The journey to our village takes a long time, about five hours from Kuantan to Kampung Pagi in Jerantut district.
“From there, you need to travel further to reach Kampung Mat Daling.
“For those without a 4WD, the journey continues at Kampung Bantai, where a jetty on Sungai Tembeling allows for travel by traditional boat or canoe down the river to Sungai Sepia, taking an additional hour to reach Kampung Gusai,” he told Bernama.
However, the shrinking water levels in Sungai Tembeling, which have formed sandbars, are disrupting daily life in Kampung Gusai, where residents depend on the river for fishing and transportation.
Ahmad said the high cost of daily essentials and building materials, sometimes up to three times the market price, was a major concern for villagers and chalet operators.
“The rising expenses are attributed to difficulties in navigating the shallow Sungai Sepia, made worse by low tides and sandbars,” he said, adding that the risk of engine damage when pulling boats through the river also contributed to the high costs.
Despite these challenges, Ahmad said the situation inadvertently benefitted local homestay and chalet operators by drawing many tourists to the sandbars.“It’s lively here. When the river is shallow, many families come to bathe, and we also play volleyball on the sandbars and take night walks on the sand plains,” he said.
However, to improve accommodation, some chalet operators are facing high costs for building materials due to transportation difficulties and the reliance on middlemen.
Besides tourism, Kampung Gusai’s main economic activity, banana farming, is also struggling, according to villager Wan Hassan Wan Bakar.
The 63-year-old explained that most banana farmers were elderly folk who grew pisang tanduk and jelai berangan for sale in Kampung Bantai, transporting around 200kg of bananas by boat.
“The receding water makes it difficult to navigate and often leaves us stranded.
“Pulling the boat through the shallow, winding river requires significant effort, especially at our age, but we have no choice,” he said.
According to MetMalaysia, the maximum daily temperature in Jerantut district has reached 33ºC, with only eight days of rain recorded from July 1 to 31.
