In pitch dark, long before sunrise, primary school students and start their trek to school. 
 
They cut across a jungle, up a hill, through several oil pal plantations and across several rivers on rope bridges to reach an assembly area on the river bank. 
 
There, they board a boat to the nearest jetty before walking through several more oil palm plantations to arrive at school. 
 
This is the daily commute of students from six villages in Pitas, Kudat in Sabah, where the government promised to build a road 15 years ago. 
 
Today, the villagers rely on Sungai Bengkoka for access, but even this is problematic when water levels rise during the rainy season. 
 
Tired of waiting on an empty promise, the villagers have decided to dig into their own meagre pockets to build a logging road in hopes of cutting short the children’s commute.
 
To supplement their contributions, the 3,000 villagers – mostly foragers and smallholders - are also seeking financial and moral support, to make turn the project to build 7.5 kilometre road into reality.  
 
The villagers are also hoping for support in terms of equipment and manpower, as well as expertise given their inexperience in the field. 
 
According to the project website , the logging road will connect the six villages – Kampung Dowokon, Kampung Mandamai, Kampung Kobon, Kampung Perupok, Kampung Maliau Pusat and Kampung Maliau Layung – to Pitas town.
 
The accessibility will allow the residents more employment options and help raise standards of living. 
 
The project dubbed ‘ Orang Kampung Mau Bikin Jalan Raya’ (Villagers want to build a road), is estimated to cost RM85, 000. 
 
This is on top of the RM5,000 from the villagers’ pooled savings, which they have used to maintain and hire a construction equipment like a backhoe, chainsaws and other machinery costing RM150 a day. 
 
Villager Maklin Masiau told The Star said that the government had promised to build a road to connect the villages in 1999. 
 
“When I read that a road would be built to connect my village to Pitas town, I thought it was a turning point for Kampung Dowokon,” the 42-year-old farmer told the newspaper.
 
Maklin was referring to an article by The Daily Express dated Aug 5, 1999 which states that the government would build a Pitas Pandan Pinapak road.
 
 “I thought the villagers’ difficulties and sufferings would end and their quality of life would improve.”
 
The construction, however, started in 2000 but ended without an explanation after two kilometres.
 
The villagers can be contacted at pgks7@yahoo.com.my or through their campaign Facebook page.