Council seeks funds to improve Taman Awam Miri

MIRI: Miri City Council ( MCC) is requesting for funds to carry out major repair and maintenance works for its public recreational park, Taman Awam Miri.

Its mayor Adam Yii said the cost to repair and refurbish facilities at the park is quite high and will land the council with an estimated bill of RM1.33 million.

“We are aware of the public’s concern that most of the facilities at Taman Awam Miri are in a rundown state.

“The poor condition of the park is actually receiving our strong attention but the council is unable to carry out immediate facility-repairing works due to financial constraints. We are now in the process of requesting for funds from the Ministry of Local Government for such a purpose,” he told the press after chairing a full council meeting yesterday.

Located some three kilometres from the city centre, Taman Awam Miri is a relatively large family recreational park built on 24 acres of land in the city after Miri City Fan, Yii pointed out.

He admitted it is a challenge for the council to ensure the park’s facilities are not only in good condition but are also safe for public use. The facilities at the park include floral gardens, an observatory platform, a suspension bridge, jogging tracks, water features, a children’s playground and other sport facilities.

On an unrelated issue, he reiterated that the council is keeping its fingers crossed over the federal government’s plan to extend the implementation of Road Charge ( RC) at entry points between Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam.

The implementation of RC at Sarawak-Brunei borders will hit the Resort City’s economic development badly.

“We strongly oppose the implementation of RC at our immigration check point in Sungai Tujoh.

“The decision has to be reciprocal only if the Brunei government is charging our Malaysian-registered vehicles for entering their territory, as what has been done by the Singaporean government. At the moment, the Brunei government is not charging our vehicles; thus, there is no reason for us to collect RC for them to enter Sarawak through the Sungai Tujoh immigration check point.”

He said if the Brunei government imposed the RC on Malaysian vehicles, it would only create a difficult situation for Sarawakians living in Lawas and Limbang.