KUCHING, March 9: The Sarawak government should allocate much needed funds towards improving basic infrastructure and especially to resolve flooding issues in the city rather than giving RM60 million to construct a new complex for Padawan Municipal Council (MPP).
Michael Kong, special assistance to Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen, highlighted this in echoing MPP chairman Lo Khere Chiang’s call for more funds from the state government to enable the local council to improve all dilapidated drains in its jurisdiction.
“(They should improve) the dilapidated drains especially within the Kota Sentosa and Batu Kitang constituencies.
“This (Lo’s) plea confirmed my previous statement that the state government has constantly disregarded this basic need which has left people begging for proper basic infrastructure,” he claimed in a statement today.
Kong emphasised that the poor drainage system had caused many areas in the city especially Jalan Stakan in Mile 7 here to be affected by flash floods on Feb 19 and subsequently suffer damages to personal property.
“One house even had its entire fence swept away by the strong water current. Many people have worked very hard just to be able to afford to buy a house. In order to achieve this dream of owning a house within suburban areas like Kota Sentosa, many have to save up for many years.
“Just when they thought that they finally have a sense of security by having a roof over their heads, they were left disappointed and filled with anguish,” he added.
As such, Kong stressed that the state government should give more attention towards addressing the long-standing flooding problems in the city once and for all.
Meanwhile, Lo had today expressed hope that MPP could get more funds to improve dilapidated drains especially in housing areas under MPP’s jurisdiction as the said drains were among factors causing flash floods in certain areas.
As the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Sarawak can help in constructing a bigger monsoon drain along Jalan Datuk Amar Kalong Ningkan to mitigate flash floods in the area, he hoped that the proposal which had been included in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) would be approved.
Lo, who is also the Batu Kitang assemblyman, also pointed out the need to address serious erosion problems in the constituency and suggested communities to come together to carry out ‘gotong-royong’ (work parties) for small projects which he was willing to fund using his RM5 million Rural Transformation Projects (RTP) allocation. — DayakDaily
