The Borneo Post

Illegal extensions: SRDC to work with other councils

- By Peter Boon reporters@theborneop­ost.com

SIBU: Sibu Rural District Council ( SRDC) will work with other councils to seek a mechanism to look into the illegal extension issue in commercial and housing areas under its jurisdicti­on.

SRDC chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai pointed out that while enforcemen­t of the law is the option to deal with the issue, it does not solve the problem.

“Illegal extension is a statewide issue and we need a mechanism to ensure a viable solution.

“Enforcemen­t of the law is the option but so far, it cannot solve the problem because of the legal procedures in the implementa­tion of the Building By-Law, which still gives some problems for the local authoritie­s to implement such law,” he explained yesterday.

Sempurai said they know previously some other councils’ action calling for demolition had met with some resistance from the building owners.

“The owners brought the matter

Illegal extension is a statewide issue and we need a mechanism to ensure a viable solution. Sempurai Petrus Ngelai, SRDC chairman

to court which ruled in their favour. As for SRDC, our Public Works section will work together with other agencies such as Land and Survey Department to ensure the coordinati­on of the effort can be strengthen­ed,” he added.

On another matter, Sempurai noted there is a lot to be done especially on the projects allocated for this year under Malaysian Road Records Informatio­n System ( Marris), Capital Grant, Local Authoritie­s projects ( BP1) and Rural Transforma­tion Programme ( RTP) projects.

“To deliver all these projects in time, we need to work with (SRDC’s) Public Works section to facilitate and give all assistance.”

He noted that members of the public have higher expectatio­n nowadays and is more advanced with better and faster mode of communicat­ion like Facebook, WhatsApp, WeChat, blog and other social media platforms to share informatio­n and constantly monitor the implementa­tion of projects carried out by the council.

“Therefore, we need to be one step ahead of the people within our jurisdicti­on to ensure efficient and effective service delivery,” he said.

 ??  ?? Sempurai Petrus Ngelai
Sempurai Petrus Ngelai

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