By William Isau
SIBU, July 13: Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) councillors have been told to step up to the plate to help the town achieve city status by 2030.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony, Bukit Assek assemblyman Joseph Chieng said the next six months to December this year, is equally important for the 30 councillors of SMC to push for the city status agenda.
The ceremony saw the councillors led by chairman Clarence Ting having their terms extended by six months.
“The next six months is crucial especially as we have our vision to achieve city status in 2030 which has been decided by SMC,” said Chieng who was representing Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, Michael Tiang at the event.
He said with four elected Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) representatives for the town now following their win in the last State Election, they now have access to a total of RM30 million in developments fund per year.
“Particularly in this six months after the big win by GPS, it means that we need to perform immediately. So now we have four GPS YBs which means that we have RM30 million per year. So now we have a lot of work to do including our chairman, councillors and officers. We need to spend our money well and to keep the quality of projects,” said Chieng.
He noted that there are a number of big projects in the pipeline for the town for it to achieve city status.
This includes Bukit Assek Development Plan, expansion of Sibu’s urban and commercial areas, upgrading of infrastructure, upgrading of Bukit Lima as a natural research park, and the construction of the new SMC building involving a cost of between RM70-100 million.
“These projects signify the progress of the town. I hope that with all the hard work of our councillors and officers including the people, we can realise our city status vision,’ he added. — DayakDaily
