KAPIT: Several longhouses in Merit area near here recently received face masks from Kapit District Office.
District Officer Cerisologo Sabut accompanied by several of his administrative officers travelled by high powered speedboats passing through the treacherous Pelagus Rapids in Batang Rajang to distribute the face masks to the community at Nanga Merit sub district comprising Sungai Pila, Sungai Metah and Sungai Merit.
The journey from Kapit to Nanga Merit sub-district at upper Kapit takes about three hours by the high powered 200 hp twin speedboat engines.
Apart from distributing the face masks to the longhouses, the visit was also to monitor the villager’s compliance to the movement control order (MCO) and to assess the effect of the order among the rural folks.
The villagers, comprising some 1,900 households, earlier received food baskets under the government’s Food Aid programme.
The rural folk, especially at Merit here are among the hardest hit by the MCO because river transportation and express boats had stopped operation causing the villages to be completely cut off.
