KUCHING, April 15: Sheda Kuching is supportive of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s Smart City concept.
Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) Kuching chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok said it would be less risky for a developer to build in a council area that uses smart city technology in its administration and management, as there will better demand for houses built in the smart area, as services and security will be better, traffic flow smoother and the overall living experience more conducive than in areas that do not use the said technology.
“This Smart City technology will be more cost effective when more cities in the world use it as the economies of scale will make it very affordable for our councils.
“Our developer might also be able to integrate smart home (concept) into the smart city to further enhance our living experience, for example, our house CCTV can be integrated into the Smart City security application; refuse collection, street lighting, all might be able to be connected directly from the our smart home to the smart utilities provider or council,” said Sim in a press statement today.
From the city’s point of view, he said, within Smart City, security will be upgraded with more CCTV, and security gadgets such as panic buttons can be installed at strategic places to call for help in case of emergency. Traffic lights and traffic flow can be monitored to reduce traffic jams and refuse collections will be more efficient, while flash floods can be avoided and early warnings can be sent out to affected area.
Sim also pointed out that parks and tourist attractions can also be monitored by smart gadgets for a safer experience. This will promote a much more livable and safer city for local residents and for tourists to visit.
“There is much to look forward to how we live in this new millennium with the new smart city technology and thanks to our progressive state government we are able to enjoy this convenience soon in all the major cities as announced by our Chief Minister during the launch of Miri Smart City, and turn Sarawak into a Smart State,” said Sim.
He said he had the privilege in March 2017 to visit Huawei in China with Abang Johari who was very impressed by the public gallery display they visited and demonstration of how a smart city worked.
“He (Abang Johari) has just taken over as our Chief Minister then (2017) and in this short period of time, he had successfully implemented the first Smart City Miri in Sarawak,” said Sim.
On April 12, Abang Johari launched the smart city concept in Miri where Miri is set to become the first smart city in Sarawak with local government managing the city through digital technology. — DayakDaily
