KOTA KINABALU: The Magandai road in Sabah northern Kota Marudu district which went viral after students were seen trudging through thick mud, is under construction, says Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.

       He said the 40km road stretches from the junction leading to Kampung Tondig up to SK Magandai.

       "The contractor informed us that their machinery is at the construction site and was deployed to perform maintenance work.

       "However, due to the continuous rain, the soil structure has softened and made construction and maintenance work difficult," said Shahelmey, who was also the state Works Minister.

       The issue of the road's poor condition was highlighted in social media with videos of students trudging through mud to get to school.

       ALSO READ: Pupils' two-day muddy walk to school strikes a chord on social media

       Shahelmey said that despite the challenges faced in repairing the road, the contractor in the area continued to help the villagers affected by the bad road conditions.

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       It was reported in the Star that the pupils trudging through the muddy road took two days to get to their school hostel at SK Magandai after the car that they were riding broke down.

       According to a billboard, the federal rural roads project undertaken by the Sabah Public Works Department began in December 2022 and was scheduled for completion by December 2025.

       The project involved upgrading the Jalan Samparita - Sosogon Magandai road, which Perwira Indah Jaya Sdn Bhd undertook under the federal rural roads project implemented by the Rural Development Ministry.