KOTA KINABALU: Help is on the way for pupils in Sabah’s interior Nabawan district, who are forced to risk their lives every day by zip-lining across a huge river just to get to school.

       Pensiangan MP Arthur Kurup said the Prime Minister had approved emergency funds to build a new suspension bridge for the students and villagers to use.

       "We are aware of the situation in which the damage was caused by torrential floods recently.

       “I have met with our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob regarding this and he has approved emergency funds,” he said.

       He said technical officers from the district office, among others, visited the affected locations several days ago and have started filing the necessary reports.

       Arthur said in the meantime, he would have a discussion with the local community on what can be done to help the transportation of school children safely.

       State Education Department director Datuk Mistirine Radin said the department is aware of the matter and they have submitted a report on it to the ministry.

       She however did not want to comment further.

       Videos showing children and adults crossing the river either on a bamboo raft or via a locally-made zipline have gone viral.

       In some of the video recordings, the children could be seen smiling while some could be heard laughing.

       “For them, this might be fun. They might not know what danger is (there) but how much longer do they have to endure these types of hardships,” said a regular volunteer and humanitarian activist, Dayang Hayati Fernandez on her Facebook page.