Owners of ‘abandoned buildings’ in Sandakan risk legal action – minister

SANDAKAN: Sandakan parliament member cum Minister of Health and Wellbeing, Stephen Wong Tien Fatt upon visiting the central market here yesterday said he was still not satisfied with the cleanliness level of the market and the town.

He urged Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC) deputy president Haji Hamsan Awang Supain, who was present, to set up a meeting for him with the appointed contractors, big and small, who are in charge of the cleanliness of the market and town, as soon as possible.

“I do not want to stop people from earning money, but they (appointed contractors) have to do their jobs. If they fail to do so, we will have no choice but to terminate their contract with SMC,” he said.

Wong said that even though he had received the least complaints from the hawkers during his visit this time, he still wanted to ensure that SMC was doing its best in inspecting the market regularly and ensured that the maintenance was conducted well.

“I have just ordered SMC to quickly fix the fans which are faulty. I hope this type of small problems can be solved immediately without needing to drag the problem with reports after reports. SMC could have efficiently and quickly fixed the problem and submit a report; don't need to wait,” he added.

Meanwhile, Wong said owners of abandoned buildings in Sandakan who did not cooperate on a meeting date might face court order for them to attend the meeting.

He said most owners were in Singapore and he had tried to set up a meeting with them recently but only one of them attended.

“I will need to get a court order for them to come. If they fail, we may have to take legal action. The owners of these big abandoned buildings are making Sandakan look bad and it is also dangerous to the locals as it is not maintained for years and could possibly be a spot for criminal activities.

“We hope we can discuss making use of these abandoned buildings for the town development as SMC has also proposed to auction these buildings,” he said.

Wong also visited the restaurant owners along Harbour Square to listen to their problems on licensing with SMC. He solved their problems and helped them acquire their licenses (for extended dining area) and also listened to the suggestions by the restaurant owners on how to make Harbour Square and the restaurants located by the sea a tourist attraction spot, especially at night.

“I welcome their proposal and we will look into their suggestions with SMC. I am very happy that the locals are also cooperating and giving ideas to boost the economy and tourism in Sandakan. We (Sandakan) need this. Economy and businesses in Sandakan town are not doing well, so we need ideas to boost the economy here.

“Hotels here only have 30 per cent average occupancy rate. We want to change that. We receive about 3.8 million tourists to Sabah, but not a lot come to Sandakan. They go to Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Semporna; we need them to stop in Sandakan and stay a night or two, here.

“I love the idea of making the night livelier in Sandakan town, maybe with a night market or walkway, we will look into it. This new government, we are open to suggestions and we take what is good without discrimination,” he said.

Wong said this at a press conference after he visited the restaurant owners at Harbour Square here.

Wong told the press that he would be arranging a forum session with the person in charge of POIC Sandakan with local business owners and relevant parties and investors so that they will have better insight on the plans and potential that POIC Sandakan could offer.

“Nothing is going on at POIC Sandakan. It is about time that we change that. I will arrange the forum as soon as possible,” he added.