State Legislative Assembly Speech (1st) by YB Cr. Ir. Lo Khere Chiang

Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker

Thank you for the honor and the opportunity to debate Tuan Yang Terutama, Yang di-Pertua Negara's opening address at the first meeting of the 18th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly on the 7th day of June 2016. I congratulate and support Tuan Yang Terutama for his articulate speech.

Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate all my Barisan Nasional comrades for winning the 11th state election and I look forward to working closely with everyone, to learn from the veterans and to make Sarawak a better place for all.

I also wish to take this opportunity to thank my supporters and voters who have given me their trust and have voted me into this DUN to serve them better.

Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,

I wish to raise some issues in my constituency.

Flash Floods

I am sure that everyone is aware of the catastrophic effects flash floods have brought to victims in Kuching including people in my constituency, Batu Kitang as well as in Batu Kawa. Flash floods have not only brought about costly damages to properties year after year but I urge you to think of the victims of these flash floods and their families, the heartaches they feel and the burdens they have to bear when they have to deal with this ordeal every rainy season.

The floods have taken a toll on everyone especially those in the Arang Road area and I had, on many an occasion, gone down to the ground to see these chaotic situations with my own eyes and to hear the victims and their families wrench their hearts and frustrations out.

The Natural Resources and Environment Federal Minister has just recently announced a flood mitigation project involving the construction of a channel through the city which will eventually be tabled to the Sarawak government upon completion of this study.

The study, according to the Minister shall be conducted by the Drainage and Irrigation Department with the help of experts from the Netherlands. This comprehensive report will be submitted to our Prime Minister in due course. The Minister said the estimated cost of the project would be about RM1.85 billion.

I laud our Government for coming up with flood mitigation ideas which are critical in complimenting the development plans in our quest to develop Sarawak. I must say, however that this project will involve time consuming, extensive and laborious studies, and the careful planning itself will take years to complete.

On the one hand, while we are making this important emphasis on major drainage ; on the other, we still have to solve the ever present issue of flash floods that are happening after one or two hours of heavy downpour in many places in my constituency of Batu Kitang and without say, this includes the whole of Kuching as well.

The RM1.85billion project may include the construction of reservoirs upstream of the Sarawak River to act as huge retention ponds to contain flood waters during the wet months of December, January till March. The challenge, to our engineers is to manage the water in these reservoirs by emptying them into rivers during the dry seasons and to empty these reservoirs precisely during the wet months so that these dams are ready to receive and to retain flood waters between December and March. With these reservoirs, flood waters can then be released at a controlled rate so as not to flood the city.

This RM1.85billion mega project will require years of work for a full and complete construction. We have to look at the present housing estate drainage systems separately, especially those 30 t0 40 year old drains which have been reduced to shambles after years of usage.

These old drains which have been incapacitated due to new developments upstream of these old developments need to be re-planned, rebuilt and eventually with the aid of of theRm1.85billion, a new drainage system will control floods, rebuild and safeguard the lives and property of the people of Batu Kitang and Batu Kawa. It goes without saying then that the control of flood waters in these areas will also positively impact upon other areas in the city of Kuching as well.

Localised flash flooding has to be addressed and as the Minister of Local Government has rightfully stated, such drains comeunder the purview of the local council and we need to look at immediate solutions and actions.

To kick start this pilot project, as I would like to call it, in my Batu Kitang constituency as well as in the Batu Kawa constituency, I need an initial funding of at least RM 30 million to overcome flash floods in the Arang Road, Jalan Dogan, Desa Wira, RPR and the resettlement areas.

RM 30 million is an estimate as the same has been given to Miri to deal with the town's flash floods just before the election as had been announced by the honourable federal minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

Being in the Padawan Muncipal Council for the past 20 years, I know all the nooks and corners of my area in Batu Kitang and the reasons for all these flash floods.

As an engineer, I am aware of the causes for such flooding and I have the professional background and knowledge to put in place the appropriate measures to fix it. It is not just about dredging drains and clearing sumps and clearing blocked drains. It's about guidelines and policies. It's about forward planning to provide drainage reserves which we do not have now, to account for future catchment change and the capacities of these drains needed to accommodate these changes plus the proper and long termed maintenance of these drains. It is about the understanding of floods and the political will to solve it. I appeal, therefore, to our government to kick start this project in my Batu Kitang constituency, to arrest flash floods and eventually, to eradicate flash flooding for other areas in Kuching. Once this Rm1.85billion mega project is fully completed , severe flooding for the whole of Kuching will then hopefully, be a thing of the past.

I know that a special task force committee has been set up recently by our Honourable state secretary to manage the issues concerning flooding in the state.

I seek the wisdom of our Chief Minister and our Minister of Local Government and the state secretary, to include me in this privileged committee as I am in all seriousness and earnestness, ready to assist our state in formulating policies and guidelines to address this issue of drainage in the early stages of our planning approvals. I am keen to contribute and help coordinate the workings of all relevant departments in order to achieve this.

I believe Sarawak can be successful in charting practical solutions to overcome flooding issues from simple problems to more intricate ones as per say, the pertinent clogging of drainage outlets which are causing our roads to be flooded. This persistent flooding has long and negatively impacted upon our people judging from the frustrations of drenched pedestrians and motorcyclists who get splashed each time a moving vehicle passes by them. There is also, more importantly,  the issue ofreal and imminent danger flash floods bring to the lives of everyone every time it rains.

The committee must include all relevant agencies in the likes of the state planning authority, the lands and surveys department, the Drainage and Irrigation department, Jabatan Kerja Raya, the Natural Resources Environment Board as well as the State Financial Secretary's office as the consideration of money is an important factor in determining the success and outcome of any project.  As such, I sincerely hope that I can have the honour and privilege of being included in this special task force to deal with flooding in the state.

Security in Padawan

Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,

I am very concerned about the spate of crimes in my Batu Kitang constituency. There are many house break-ins and thefts, including vehicle and motorcycle thefts. It is unfortunate too that there were noticeable cases of snatch thieves in which victims have been hurt. I understand that many victims have refused to lodge police reports claiming that it is a hassle to do so.

I hope that these victims will take the trouble to lodge police reports as only then, will the police have the correct statistics of these crimes committed and these statistics will help to reflect the seriousness of the issue of crime and security in our state.

We cannot put the blame solely on non-local people or foreigners for the crimes committed. There are local bad heads who resort to crime to support their drug habits or to pay off gambling debts from loan sharks.

I have, however, learnt that an effective way of combating crime is through the setting up of Neighbourhood Crime Watchgroups. Many Neighbourhood Crime Watch groups have been set up in my area and the leaders of these groups are the people in the community themselves.

This group of diligent residents would monitor and put on their Whatsapp groups any crime they witnessed or if they come across any suspicious characters lurking in the neighborhood. This builds community spirit and togetherness and it is all about good neighbours watching out for one another. This is our neighborhood in the city of Kuching, in the state of Sarawak and in the spirit of Satu Malaysia where people of all races unite and work together as one people.

I wish to propose that more funding be allocated through the present community development programs allocated to all the councils in the state. Every councillor shall take the lead and together with their local community leaders, encourage Neighbourhood Watch groups to be formed.

I know many people who would like to be a part of their Neighbourhood Crime Watch group as they themselves have been victims before. I must say, however, that it is not for the ordinary citizen to tackle a criminal as the suspect could be armed.

I therefore call upon the OCPD of Padawan to allocate an officer for every crime watch group and for this officer to be included in their whatsapps group. After all, this movement will better help the police to help the community in deterring crime. The officers monitoring these whatsapps groups will be able to alert the police mobile teams which will, within minutes, arrive at the destination where there is a suspicion of crime.

We must not shy away from the fear of providing wrong information to the police. As long as we have a reasonable suspicion on any person or vehicle that should not be in the area, we should alert our neighbours via our Neighbourhood Crime Watch on our whatsapp group. Our main objective is to deter crime.

CCTV is another effective way to combat crime. I hope the government would install CCTVs at strategic points in my constituency, again as a pilot scheme to deter crimes. The system should be controlled and monitored by the police department.

 Education

Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker.

Education is the key to a knowledgeable society and is one of the most important factors in improving living standards. The English language is an important tool in our education system to train and to unlock the genius in all of us and our young people, to create a breed of technologically savvy individuals and the many scientists amongst us to have a globally competitive edge.

The importance of English cannot be better emphasized in any other way. Both your honourable self and our Chief Minister and many other YBs in this cabinet are proof of how important English is to Sarawak. I have always envied the immaculate English that you all posses. Your success today and how Malaysian you are speaks volumes on the importance of English as our language of instruction.

Our honourable Chief Minister, wants Sarawak to have some say in the country’s education policy and he is absolutely right. Sarawak must get back her Education autonomy and be able to determine her own education policies. English is a universal language of science and technology and an important tool for the state of Sarawak to excel and be competitive globally.

Sarawak, in its own uniqueness needs to take the lead and be in control of its own education policies and it hopes to be consistent in the system instead of having to follow to the letter the changing of policies every time there is a new change ofEducation Minister.

Our Chief Minister has rightfully pointed out that by a flip-flop system, the consequences will be on us and our future generations.

It is therefore important that we maintain English in the teaching of Science and Mathematics in our schools. I have been informed that there have been changes in the use of English and Bahasa Malaysia in the UPSR exams again this year. This continued change in our education system and policies is certainly not healthy and is one of the main reasons for the poor level of performance of our students these days.

A lot of graduates today fail to get decent jobs due to their lack of proficiency in the English language. Bahasa Malaysia is important as it is our national language and a language to integrate our different communities together. But English as our language of instruction will certainly position Sarawak to tap our rich human resources, an invaluable ingredient to ensure the success of our economy and development of our state and country.

A lot of parents in this country are unhappy with our education system and they are frustrated that they cannot do anything about it. This is one of the reasons why many parents send their children overseas for further education and the majority of these young and capable people have chosen to stay and work in their place of studies after completing their degrees. This brain drain has had and is having a drastic and adverse effect on our country. If the education system in the country of their birth is improved such it meets the needs of what they want for their offsprings, they would gladly come home to Malaysia and give back to a country which has given so much to them. After all, home is where the family is and where your have developed a love affair with the local cuisines in your place of birth.

According to the World Bank report in 2014 , it was reported that in Malaysia for the year 2013, a total of 308,834 highly-skilled Malaysians have moved overseas and the trend is on the increase every year. There were no statistics available for 2014 nor 2015.

Tourism

Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker

Tourism is the second largest income earner for our country. Padawan is blessed with lots of natural beauty which has a huge potential in attracting tourists if it is marketed efficiently.

However, it is a challenge to encourage these village folks to be interested in making money, to engage in the tourism business and earn a profitable living out of it. If the villages and their natural resources are marketed well with the involvement of the village folks, the current gap in the living standard between that of the villagers and that of people living in the city will eventually be narrowed.

Our rich native culture, way of life and local food are in itself economically viable tourism products. What Sarawakian, especially those who have left the shores of our country have not missed the fresh air, the laksa and the folksy camaraderie we enjoy among our own people, regardless of race, religion and tradition.

I am appealing to our state government to allocate funds to the Padawan Municipal Council to upgrade basic infrastructure in these tourism areas. The council will encourage the locals via their JKKKs to be passionate about maintaining these facilities built for them through part of the profits derived from their businesses.

Besides tourism, I hope the federal government will provide funds to Padawan Municipal Council to construct simple running tracks, provision of compound lightings, benches and children playground equipment for all the open spaces and parks in the Batu Kitang constituency. There are more than eighty open spaces and parks in the Padawan Municipal Council that still lack such infrastructure.

I would like to quote our Head of State, who said, in his opening speech during the 18th State legislative assembly held at Petra Jaya yesterday. He pointed out that " the relationship between the State and the federal government was crucial and that the State government still needed specific attention from the federal government in providing the allocation for basic infrastructure development..".

I cannot agree more. I also wish to take this opportunity to make a request for 4 very much needed overhead pedestrian bridges.The first one is from Mile7 to Sentosa Parade across Jalan Penrissen, the second one from Boulevard to Am bank across Jalan Datuk Tawi Sli, the third one from Mile 4 Everise to Liang Kee Commercial Centre across Jalan Penrissen and the fourth one from SRK Garland to RPR Batu Kawa across Jalan Batu Kawa.

In his speech yesterday, TYT also said that he is and I quote " confident that under the leadership of the Chief Minister, many policies and development projects will be introduced and implemented, to ensure the continuation of development and prosperity for the people." As an assemblyperson for the people in my area of Batu Kitang, I thank everyone here for giving me your time and attention in bringing these issues of Flash floods,Security in Padawan, Education and Tourism before you today.

I understand these issues to be the pulse of the people in my area and in agreement with TYT's speech yesterday, I also " believe that the State government will fufil the promises that have been made  during the State election campaign and fulfil these responsibilities with honesty and sincerity in the interest and welfare of the people and the development of Sarawak State."

In closing, I would like to add that I am humbly yours, an intermediate for the government to help its people. I am in complete agreement with TYT's statement yesterday that it is also one of my duties as an assemblyman to help maintain "the continued good relationship between the State and Federal government to help the people solve their issues and problems quickly and effectively". This is the reason why my voters voted me into this DUN and I hope in all sincerity to ensure that the government's and my voters' trust in me have not be misplaced.

Thank you.