Historic! Today was the soft opening of Jambatan Marudi. No more ferries from now on, and the bridge that stretches across Sungai Baram will reduce traveling time from Miri to Marudi, to only 30mins!
I have a soft spot for this place. This pic is of me at a long house somewhere in Marudi circa 1996. At that time, the magistrates in Miri (there were 2 of us) were also required to sit at circuit courts, including Marudi, once a month.
There were no roads from Miri to Marudi, so we either had to take the boat (2 1/2 hr journey ), or the MAS twin otter plane. The town itself was so small that you could walk the entire place in 10 mins.
The national papers came 1 1/2 days later and there were only two good hotels around. Which became a problem for me on one occasion.
I can't remember what the case was, but I sentenced this one accused to imprisonment for a period of time. I then went back to the hotel after proceedings as usual. In the afternoon, I received a call from the hotel reception. I was told that the father of the accused was downstairs and wanted to see me. They guessed right as to where I was staying 😑
Of course I had to tell the reception that I'm not allowed to see anyone outside of court and chided them a little for revealing I was staying there. I think I didn't leave the hotel until I had to go back to Miri, and just ordered food to the room!
