KUCHING, April 19: DAP Batu Kitang chairman Abdul Aziz Isa questioned the lack of action by MPP to address the landslide problem faced by a resident in Kampung Haji Baki.
Abdul Aziz in a statement today said after receiving the complaint from one of his representatives in the area, he went to visit the affected resident’s house, and found out that the slope had been eroded to a depth of three metres with a width of 15 metres.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader noted that the resident had to cover the eroded slopes with discarded zinc roofing in order to prevent further erosion.
“This morning, I took some time to meet Murin Budin (the complainant) pertaining to a landslide problem that occurred in the backyard of her house located at No 335, Block B, Kpg Haji Baki.
“According to Murin, the landslide had occurred four years ago and she had lodged a complaint to the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP). However, until now, the MPP has not taken necessary actions to solve the issue.
“According to Murin again, one of the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) leaders came to attend the issue twice, but no action was taken until now. My question is, why isn’t MPP taking necessary actions to solve this problem?,” queried Abdul Aziz.
He added since the complaint has been lodged with MPP, therefore MPP has the duty of care to take necessary actions to fix the eroded slopes immediately without further delay.
Abdul Aziz, who is also the special assistant to Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, also suggested that MPP could at least build a retaining wall on the surface of the eroded slopes as failure to take necessary actions upon receiving the complaints is amounting to breach of duty.
“Does MPP take their job seriously? Due to the negligence on the part of MPP which is refusing to take any action to solve the problem, as a result, the surface of the eroded slopes became deeper and wider and this means that the cost of building the retaining wall is also increasing. An increase of the cost means that more money from the taxpayers will be used.
“Have they ever thought of this? As such, on behalf of Puan Murin, I will request MPP to build a retaining wall in her backyard with immediate effect. I will monitor this issue from time to time to ensure that the MPP will perform its responsibilities as expected,” he added. — DayakDaily
