DAP S’wak tells Padawan council to act on feedback from people’s rep

Michael Kong

KUCHING, Oct 27: DAP Sarawak has urged MPP chairman Lo Khere Chiang not to overreact to the issues on the traffic woes in Ee Ann City at Kota Sentosa here which the party had highlighted.

Michael Kong, special assistant to Chong Chieng Jen, defended that Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak merely acted in good faith and provided constructive feedback for the pressing issue.

“But it was promptly brushed off by the chairman of the local council (Padawan Municipal Council). To add salt to the wound, Lo Khere Chiang had the cheek to allege that no homework was done by DAP and Chong Chieng Jen.

“If anyone is guilty of not checking the facts, it would be Lo Khere Chiang himself,” he hit back in a statement today in responding Lo’s remarks that Chong did not refer to Public Works Department (JKR) about the road project and concluded that no measures were taken to ease the congestion in the area.

Kong reminded that he had personally written to JKR and MPP to submit the proposal of an alternative route, which was proposed by the local business owners and shop owners affected by the ongoing construction, following a visit to the site on Oct 9.

“We managed to speak to the supervisor on-site and procured a copy of the proposed new traffic flow with very detailed engineering information. The plan also has the chop of the consultancy firm which is tasked to oversee the project.

“Also, if indeed the alternative route was not something the public agreed to, surely there won’t be a petition signed by 40 individual business owners requesting MPP to consider making the alternative route a permanent one,” he added.

Thus, Kong said that for Lo to claim that DAP was making ‘a mountain out of a molehill’ reflected the lack of understanding about the entire issue as well as towards the plight of the people in Kota Sentosa particularly Ee Ann City.

“As the chairman of MPP, it is his responsibility to take notice of the people’s concerns and address them.

“Lo Khere Chiang should just accept the feedback from the local community as well as the efforts put forth by DAP to resolve the traffic woes in Ee Ann City with open arms.

“He should have just resolved the issue and not play politics when it deals with matters affecting the people, even more so when such matters are under his charge as the chairman of MPP and especially without attempting a cheap publicity stunt against DAP,” he added. —DayakDaily