Were pump and floodgate properly maintained? – MP
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu member of parliament Jimmy Wong yesterday requested the Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DID) Sabah to confirm if the pump and floodgate in Likas had been properly maintained or in working condition in light of the flash floods at Foh Sang and Dah Yeh Villa on Sunday.
“If the pump and floodgate are working, why was the floods so serious?”
He also wanted to know if the DID has been maintaining the huge drain underneath the main road in front of Dah Yeh Villa.
Wong, who is also Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) advisor, said the DID was funded by both the federal and state governments, while the maintenance of smaller drains was under the Kota Kinabalu City Hall's (DBKK) responsibility.
He said a source allegedly informed him that the federal and state governments had committed to allocating RM100 million for DBKK to upgrade facilities, including landscaping, maintenance of drainage and roads, before Kota Kinabalu was elevated to city status.
However, Wong alleged that the RM100 million allocation has yet to be disbursed to DBKK.
“In 2000, DBKK's yearly budget for maintenance works was RM100 million, but its income from housing assessment was only RM40 million.
“I want the State Government to explain the reason the allocation was not disbursed to DBKK.
“How do you expect DBKK to make KK one of the most livable cities in the world and to attract more tourists?” he said in a press conference here yesterday.
If Pakatan Harapan (PH) becomes the new government, Wong said the coalition's immediate task would be to solve the flooding issue in Kota Kinabalu.
On the other hand, Wong said he had met with Deputy Finance Minister Lee Chee Leong in a Special Chamber session during the recent parliamentary sitting where he raised the progress of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Kota Kinabalu.
He said the construction of the RM1 billion BRT system was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when tabling Budget 2016 on October 23, 2015. He added that the Mayor of Kota Kinabalu had also promised that the project would begin by the end of 2016 but construction of the project had yet to commence till today.
“The reason (for the delay) is that the Ministry of Finance has not released the funds to the State yet,” he claimed.
According to the Ministry of Finance's reply, it was said that a feasibility study has to be carried out before the BRT project in Kota Kinabalu was implemented. The scope of the study will include ridership projection, fees structure, proposed feeder bus, integration with the existing mode of transportation, social impact assessment, environmental impact assessment and earthquake impact assessment for existing structures.
Wong said the government should have done the feasibility study before announcing the plan to build the BRT system in the budget.
“Why is the government coming back to do feasibility study?”
He said the Mayor should continue to request for the allocation to be disbursed in order to implement the BRT project.
To further alleviate traffic congestion in the city, Wong also proposed the implementation of water taxi system from Tanjung Aru to Sepanggar.
“The water taxis can take passengers to Pulau Gaya, Yayasan Sabah and 1Borneo Hypermall where it is congested,” he said.