KUANTAN: Transport and safety aspects are among the challenges faced in repairing severed fibre optic cables, due to a landslide which caused disruption of communication services in the Orang Asli settlements, namely Pos Lemoi and Pos Telimau, in Cameron Highlands.
Pos Lemoi and Pos Telimau are located about 20 kilometres (km) from Ringlet town.
State Communications and Multimedia, Youth, Sports and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Committee chairman, Fadzli Mohamad Kamal, said that repair work could not be carried out this morning, due to blocked access to the location.
“The main challenge is that the use of lorries or four-wheel drive vehicles to carry new fibre cables and related equipment for connection work is quite difficult, due to piles of rubble and mud.
“As of yesterday evening, the work of repairing the road and removing the piles of collapsed soil was still being carried out by the Cameron Highlands Public Works Department,” he said in a statement.
Fadzli said that work to clean up the landslide site, believed to have occurred on Wednesday (Dec 27), also received help from local residents.
He added that Maxis, appointed as the provider of broadband services in the location, will attempt to connect fibre optic cables today and replace broken or damaged cable poles in low-risk locations.
However, it all depends on the condition of the road leading to Pos Lemoi, as the safety factor is a priority for all parties.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) received a complaint of communication disruption from the staff of the Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA) at the settlement on Friday. However, the bad road conditions meant that repair work could not be carried out yesterday. –Bernama
The landslide that occurred along the Bertam Valley route to Pos Lemoi also caused fibre optic cables to be severed in several places.