A Tribute to Sarawak’s 20th Senate President Datuk Mutang Tagal from Ba Kelalan
In the old days, the border village of Ba Kelalan, with its friendly people, temperate climate, and green valleys, was touted as the “Shari la” of Sarawak.
However, in recent times, it has been reduced to a “ghost town” due to circumstances that led the authorities to abandon this small Lun Bawang community of 3,000.
Buduk Nur village elder, retired pastor Tagal Paran, remembers well the days when Ba Kelalan was a hub of tourism for the “born-again” Christians from the Borneo Evangelical Church (BEM) in this remote region.
A former President of the BEM, Tagal, said: “Ba Kelalan was a great tourist attraction because of our friendly Christian folk.
“In the late 1980s, we built a church on a saddle at the 7,950ft Gunung Murud, and we attracted thousands who made a pilgrimage to the village to attend the annual revival service in the mountain church,” he said.
Over the last 25 years, Christians as well as nature lovers would make the annual trek up to Southeast Asia’s highest church (7,000ft) to worship or enjoy the unique montane flora and rock formations.
“Each July, the pilgrims, which included elderly folk, would trek close to nine hours to the church at Camp Halleluyah and an additional four hours to get to the peak.
“But over the last few years, we have built a road halfway up the mountain, and now it takes less than four hours to get to the church,” he said.
Times were so good that Tagal started an apple farm and tried to breed horses in the early 1990s — he also established a motel-type “homestay” which could accommodate about 40 people.
Looking back at the good old days, Tagal said: “Even the Governor of Sarawak, Tun Muhammad Salahuddin, visited us to sample the apples at my farm.
“Later, we diversified and took visitors on treks through the jungle, bird-watching, and basically eco-tours. I even offered my horses for rides in the countryside.”
Business was thriving as the Lun Dayeh neighbours from across the border in Indonesian Kerayan bought their provisions from Buduk Nur.
Five years ago, the government provided micro hydro dams to all the clusters of 11 villages in Ba Kelalan so that they could enjoy an unending supply of electricity.
It was a glorious time because the assemblyman for Ba Kelalan was Dr Judson Sakai Tagal, Tagal’s eldest son, who had great plans for his village.
However, Judson was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 2004 while scouring the area for a location where the government could build a large hydro dam to serve the region.
Following the incident, Ba Kelalan’s fortunes began to wane; more timber trucks began to use the old 160km Lawas-Ba Kelalan road, ploughing up its surface on a daily basis.
Five years ago, the army upgraded a 60km stretch from Long Sukang to Buduk Nur, but within two years, it too began to disintegrate.
“I’m not sure what happened, but they could have used inferior material to construct the road. Only a section of the road from Lawas to Ba Kelalan is tar-sealed, so it’s a long and bumpy ride to the village,” he lamented.
Today, what should be a 90-minute drive from the Lawas coast to the Kelalan valley is a dusty, four-hour roller coaster drive during the dry season or a slippery and dangerous ride when it rains.
Ironically, the 29km-long “highway” connecting Sarawak to Indonesia has been closed.
“A year ago, the Indonesian stretch was a mud field until President Jokowi pumped in millions of dollars to build a ‘highway’ from Long Api to Long Bawan,” said Lun Bawang businesswoman Sinang Meru.
Several years ago, the Indonesian community from Kerayan was given permission to drive to Lawas to buy essentials instead of stopping over at Buduk Nur.
Tagal lamented, “So we became a ghost town, and the business community suffered to the extent that the village cooperative had to be closed down.”
However, recently there was a glimmer of hope as the government has started building a CIQ (Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine) complex not far from Ba Kelalan.
“We were told that the CIQ will be opened soon, and when that happens, it appears that our fortunes will change,” said Tagal, who has started a sheep farm and hopes to buy a few more horses.
“If all goes well, then I might even re-establish my apple farm and buy a stallion for my mare. Three of my horses were killed when they were hit by careless road users,” he complained.
During a recent visit to Ba Kelalan, the authorities agreed to limit travel into Sarawak to bypass Ba Kelalan until the CIQ is completed.
On another issue, Tagal said that the proposed road between Ba Kelalan and Bario is almost complete but work has apparently been suspended.
He said: “I was told that the highland road is just several kilometres from Bario, but the contractor laid off his workers because he was not fully paid.
“If the road to Bario were completed, the people from both regions would have better business opportunities. It would make it possible to travel by land from Miri to the highlands without having to pass through Brunei.”
In fact, the 60km Bario-Ba Kelalan highland road will be the inaugural “Pan Borneo” highway because Malaysians would be able to drive from Kuching to Miri and then all the way to Sabah.
Tagal added: “We are going through exciting times, and I hope that I will be able to use the highland road to Bario to meet my long-lost friends and church members. They too will be happy because the Kelabits and Lun Bawang are related.”
