Tawau - It`s only 6am, but Suwardi Rapi, 28, from Kampung Sungai Melayu, Pulau Sebatik, is busy preparing his jongkong or long boat to ferry passengers and agricultural produce to Tawau.
When the goods are stacked and the passengers on board, he is ready to manoeuvre the 15m boat, capable of carrying five tonnes of goods and 10 passengers per trip, across Cowie Bay to Tawau.
His destination in Tawau is Batu, the landing jetty for such boats from Pulau Sebatik.
The journey takes 30 minutes and after going through the relevant checks, including by the marine police, Suwardi berths the boat in Batu, where his customers, including wholesalers, wait to receive and unload their orders of agricultural produce.
Tawau is the main centre for the marketing of agricultural produce, including fruits, cocoa, oil palm, coconuts and vegetables, from Pulau Sebatik.
Activities at the jetty begin to ebb when the sun gets higher, as traders and wholesalers disperse and the jongkongs leave one after the other.
It is a daily routine which Suwardi, and other jongkong operators from Pulau Sebatik face because of Tawau`s position as a centre for marketing products from villages on the island, which is partly Malaysian and partly Indonesian.
“Currently, the jongkong is the main mode of tranportation for residents of Pulau Sebatik to ferry their agricultural produce to Tawau.
“Besides Kampung Sungai Melayu, I serve other villages on the island like Kampung SungaiTongkang, Kampung Sungai Pukul and Bergosong,” Suwardi said when met at the jetty here recently.
Suwardi`s jongkong is among 10 which provide transportation for residents on both the Malaysian and Indonesian sides of Pulau Sebatik.
Suwardi, who began the jongkong service 10 months ago, charges RM5 per passenger and a maximum of RM20 for goods.
He collects about RM1,000 a month in passenger and transportation charges, and is paid RM300 a month by the jongkong`s owner.
Another jongkong operator, Rizal Sudirman, 20, said the number of jongkongs registered in Tawau was enough to meet the needs of Pulau Sebatik folk.
He said, with the rise in oil prices, the boat operators increase the passsenger fare by RM1. – Bernama
Source: http://thestar.com.my (August 04, 2008)
