By Brad Rantayy
MIRI, Nov 16: Only three per cent of SouthLake Permyjaya housing area is high-end, and it is untrue to say that all residents inside the property are rich people, disclosed Minister of Transport Sarawak Datuk Sri Lee Kim Shin.
Lee said this earlier this afternoon, during a press conference held at the Public Works Department (JKR) Pan Borneo office in Riam.
The press conference was held to give further clarification on the newly installed and commissioned SouthLake traffic light juntion-Miri-By-pass road (Pujut Link) in Permyjaya, following massive traffic congestion on Monday (Nov 14) which had left road users and residents in Vista Perdana disgruntled.
Netizens who took to social media to slam the installation of the traffic lights said it had caused the long traffic queue on Monday, while some had claimed that the installation was meant to satisfy the demands of rich residents in SouthLake Permyjaya residential area.
“This traffic light is also benefiting those residents in Vista Perdana, and not only SouthLake,” Lee told the media at the press conference.
He added, some people appeared to be twisting the facts about the SouthLake traffic light junction.
“Monday’s incident (referring to the long traffic queue in the area), was due to a mobile crane illegally parking at the roadside obstructing a traffic lane. The traffic jam is not related to the newly operating SouthLake/Vista Perdana traffic light junction,” Lee stressed, repeating his statement from yesterday.
He added that based on the development plan, a permanent dual carriageway will be constructed when the new Suruhanjaya Perumahan Nasional Berhad (SPNB) housing project starts.
“As such, in order to access into Vista Perdana, developer Naim will construct a temporary access route to Pan Borneo Highway, which is to be completed before Christmas 2022,” Lee said.
Meanwhile, according to Naim Land Sdn Bhd regional manager for Miri, Alice Ting, 86 per cent of houses built in SouthLake Permyjaya are medium affordable housing units.
“High-end houses are a small portion, which is about two to three per cent only,” she pointed out.
Also present during the press conference was JKR Pan Borneo Northern Region zone manager Ir Siaw Ming Chian. — DayakDaily
