KUCHING, May 12: The Integrated River Basin Development Project’s (PLSB) fund sitting idle due to the politicking of Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is an insult to all who worked so hard in past five years to make sure that the flood mitigation project will materialise, claims Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Women chief Kho Teck Wan.
Kho said she has reiterated over the past few years that the PLSB project was an 11th Malaysia Plan Project approved prior to 2016.
According to her, the fund was approved prior to GE14 but was put under review by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government after the 14th General Election (GE14).
“Letters of offer to contractors were withdrawn by the then government, which resulted in delay of implementation, rising cost of new design, land acquisition issues and building materials cost rises years later.
“After being given the green light to resume the PLSB project, Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) Sarawak appointed a new consultant in 2020 and the physical implementation started in 2021,” she explained.
Kho was responding to special assistant to Sarawak Democratic Action (DAP) president Chong Chieng Jen, Michael Kong Fen Nian’s claims that the fund for the PLSB project has been sitting idle in DID Sarawak’s coffers for the past five years due to constant politicking by PN and GPS.
Meanwhile, on the issue highlighted by Kong involving residents of Jalan Durian Burung and Happy Valley who have suffered from flood issues for decades, Kho said Chong, who is former assemblyman for Kota Sentosa of 16 years from 2006 to 2020, should have addressed the matter during his tenure.
“Why blame the two years new Kota Sentosa assemblyman Wilfred Yap who inherited the problem?” she asked. — DayakDaily
