By Ling Hui
KUCHING, May 12: Businesses have deteriorated at the commercial centre at Teck Kong supermarket in Kota Samarahan recently due to a road closure for the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway drainage project.
Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) chief Milton Foo said the road, which offers motorists an exit directly to the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway, was temporarily demolished on Tuesday (May 9) to make way for drainage upgrading works.
Currently, he said, patrons can only exit the commercial centre into the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway using another route which is a long detour to and back from the nearest roundabout along Jalan Datuk Mohammad Musa.
Business operators, especially the coffee shops and eateries at the commercial centre are therefore complaining about the drastic drop in customers due to the inconvenience.
“Yesteday, I went there and the business operators were obviously unhappy. They were concerned about how long the road would be inaccessible for, whether it is three months or a year.
“So, I told them that I would set up a meeting between them and JKR (Public Works Department) as well as the contractor.
“I intend to propose that once the contractor is done with that section of the drainage, they could patch up the road so that the local businesses are not affected for too long,” Foo told DayakDaily in a phone call today.
While visiting the commercial centre yesterday (May 11), he said the owner of a Malay food store there lamented that there have been no customers since the road closure, although it was lunchtime, when normally it would be packed. — DayakDaily
