By Ling Hui
KUCHING, May 19: It is high time to recognise Petra Jaya as a district with its own district office, says Satok assemblyman Dato Ibrahim Baki.
He urged the Sarawak government to consider dividing Kuching district into two, retaining the Southern part of Kuching with its own administrative district and forming another district in Kuching North which can be referred to as Petra Jaya.
According to the Population and Housing Census by the Malaysia Department of Statistics in 2020, he said, Kuching district now houses 711,500 residents, which accounts for 24.47 per cent or almost a quarter of the entire Sarawak population.
“The Kuching city, officially inaugurated in 1988 saw the birth of a twin administration – Kuching City North and Kuching City South now known as Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and Kuching South City Council (MBKS).
“This was out of the need for an efficient system that would allow for a balanced development and population distribution for the two territories.
“I think the same concept applies – as the Kuching district continues to grow, the administration has to be improved vastly to cater to the needs of the community and is the next step to the development of Kuching,” said Ibrahim when debating the motion in appreciation of the TYT’s speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
Meanwhile, on environmental sustainability, he noted the importance of spreading awareness to preserve the environment to the younger generation and the rest of the society.
He expressed regrets that the Sarawak government’s noble efforts particularly in adoption of energy-efficient vehicles (EEV) and stride towards hydrogen economy are not well understood by the public.
“Climate change is real and it is happening due to the burning of fossil fuel. That is why EEV are the future along with improvement to the public transportation facilities.
“The Sarawak government is working on this and we must support initiatives that are done for the cause of the environment,” said Ibrahim Baki. — DayakDaily
