MPP implementing numerous projects to tackle various issues — Lo DayakDaily February 28, 2019
Lo speaking to reporters. By Geryl Ogilvy KUCHING, Feb 28: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) is giving due attention to drainage and road improvement projects to tackle flash floods and other problems in areas under its jurisdiction, said Lo Khere Chiang, its chairman.
For instance, the RM1.16 million flood mitigation project to upgrade drainage and road network along Jalan Dogan in Batu Kawah is currently in progress.
Another flood mitigation project along Jalan Burung Lilin and Jalan Burung Kawok at 3 1/2 Mile here is currently under tender evaluation stage and expected to start soon. Lo, who is Batu Kitang assemblyman, said 34 projects amounting to RM5.8 million under the rural transformation initiative were currently ongoing, where 18 of them costing RM2.7 million are under his constituency. “Under the 11th Malaysia Plan, RM3.6 million has been approved to implement various projects this year. A sum of RM200,000 each has been allocated for street lighting and traffic light, roads as well as our Green Market Padawan project. “In addition, RM3 million has been allocated to develop the Sungai Batu Kawah waterfront project that cost RM5 million. However, we received RM2 million last year. “All these projects are scheduled to start in the second quarter of this year,” Lo told reporters after chairing MPP’s full council meeting today. MPP has also received RM28 million from the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) fund for 2019, an increased of RM3 million from last year’s allocation. Lo said RM12 million has been approved for Marris special projects involving roads and drainage. Touching on the breakdown, he explained that RM7.455 million would be used for 63 road resurfacing projects, while RM4.545 million was allocated for 35 drain repairs and maintenance projects. “The council is planning to start 15 road and five drain projects next month,” he added. Meanwhile, the remaining RM15.97 million allocation would be used for routine projects and maintenance. In addition, Lo said MPP had also embarked on 14 drain repair and maintenance projects amounting to RM5.8 million. Work started on Feb 20 and is scheduled to be completed on May 19 this year.
During the meeting, he briefed councillors and officers on the need to improve MPP’s service delivery. Citing MPP’s recent Balanced Scorecard (BSC) evaluation workshop on Feb 21-22, Lo raised the need to re-evaluate its strategic planning to ensure that the council did not derail from its target and long-term vision to become an efficient and self-sustainable municipality. MPP would relook at the effectiveness and demands of its current services while strengthening its tax collection. “Through the key performance index and other new initiatives, we hope to achieve our target (in line with the council’s mission) to be more committed to improving the life quality of our residents through more efficient services. “We will also utilise public feedback and create more involvement to improve our delivery.” MPP is looking to introduce a system to monitor development projects. It will focus on performance delivery and proper implementation, including those approved by state and federal lawmakers. The council would also improve its record to monitor areas prone to flash flood, traffic congestion as well as areas with road safety and traffic control issues. — DayakDaily
Uggah performs the symbolic earth-breaking for the project.
KUCHING: The setting-up of the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) has made Sarawak a one-of-a-kind state, in that no other state in the country has a unit dedicated to the needs of all non-Islamic religions.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said since Unifor was established in April 2017, it has assisted 308 houses of worship through allocations totalling RM50 million.
“This is where the state government stands out and why Unifor was established – to ensure fairness to all religions. There is no other state in Malaysia with Unifor except Sarawak.
“It is a reflection of the chief minister’s (Datuk Patingg Abang Johari Tun Openg) policy of inclusiveness and he fully supports Unifor,” Uggah said during the earth-breaking ceremony for the new building of the House of Epiphany theological college, at the grounds of St Thomas’ Cathederal, Jalan McDougall here yesterday.
According to Uggah, who is also Unifor minister-in-charge, the unit assisted 77 homes of worship in 2017 followed by 231 in 2018.
“In 2018, the state government allocated RM20 million to Unifor and for 2019, it is RM30 million. So we hope to assist more houses of worship this year.”
On the redevelopment of House of Epiphany, he said Abang Johari had approved a grant of RM7 million towards the construction of a new building, and that more funds would be approved if the need arises.
Uggah and Ngenang (third and fourth left, respectively) present the mock cheque for the rebuilding of the House of Epiphany, to (from left) Ugas and Danald, witnessed by Bolly (second right) and former Assistant Bishop of Kuching Rt Reverend Solomon Cheong.
He added the chief minister lent his support to the project after being informed about it during his Christmas visit last year to the Anglican Bishop of Sarawak and Brunei, the Right Reverend Danald Jute.
The project will see the old building of the House of Epiphany demolished by the middle of this year, with construction of the new building set to begin at year-end and completed by 2021.
Meanwhile, Danald said the Anglican community is extremely pleased that the Sarawak government shares the vision of rebuilding the House of Epiphany.
“The community would like to applaud all the good work and initiatives of the state government of Sarawak, in establishing Unifor and for supporting the freedom of religion as well as encouraging the development of all religious bodies,” he said.
The existing House of the Epiphany, which is the Anglican theological college for Sarawak and Brunei, was completed and dedicated on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1953.
Upon completion of the rebuilding process, it will be a four-storey block comprising a chapel, lecture and seminar rooms, library, museum, administrative offices, cafeteria and accommodation in the form of dormitories and individual rooms.
Among those present at the earth-breaking ceremony were Uggah’s wife Datin Amar Doreen Mayang, Unifor director Datu Dr Ngenang Janggu, Assistant Bishop of Kuching Rt Reverend Nelson Ugas Bulang, retired Bishop Datuk Bolly Lapok, and Association of Churches Sarawak secretary-general Ambrose Linang.
Electric bus debuts on Friday, passengers ride for free for 3 months
The bus will operate hourly, have free WiFi and cover 26 stops around Kuching city centre. Photo by Mohammad Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: Sarawak’s first electric bus will hit the roads this Friday (March 1) enabling locals and visitors here to travel around the city centre with ease.
Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the CRRC electric bus will go on a three-month trial run covering 26 stations that include the Open Air Market, Kuching Waterfront, iCom Square and Sarawak Museum, among others.
“The free electric bus will provide commuters with the convenience to travel around the city centre, especially for those who are from outside Kuching.
“This bus will operate for three months which will be a good gauge for us to assess the suitability of electric buses as a form of public transport,” he said when officiating the CRRC Electric City Bus flag-off ceremony at the Old Courthouse here today.
He pointed out that the passengers traveling aboard the electric bus, which can carry up to 53 passengers, will also be able to enjoy free WiFi.
The bus is also OKU-friendly, with a ramp for those in wheelchairs to board easily. Photo by Mohammad Rais Sanusi
“Apart from that, commuters will also be able to have real-time monitoring of their bus trips and the exact timing of the bus arrival or journey that they will be taking on the routes via the Kuching Metro app which is now available on iOS and Android,” he remarked.
The electric city bus service route will run on a loop starting from Open Air Market, covering a distance of around 14km.
It will be making 12 trips per day on a one-hour interval from 7am to 6pm.
Also present were Assistant Minister of Transportation Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan and Henz Pacific Sdn Bhd managing director Henry Lai.
The official route of the electric bus that spans Kuching city centre.
Abdul Karim (fifth right) shows thumbs-up as he poses for a group photo in front of Sarawak’s first electric bus, with Dr Jerip (sixth right), Snowdan (seventh right), Lai (sixth left), Yang (fourth right), Chan (third right), Abang Abdul Wahap (fourth left), Sharzede (second left) and other guests. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: Sarawak’s first electric bus will make its much-awaited debut here this Friday, enabling locals and visitors to travel around the city centre with ease.
Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the CRRC electric bus would operate on a three-month trial run at no charge to passengers.
“The free electric bus service will provide commuters with the convenience to travel around the city centre, especially for those from outside Kuching.
“This bus will operate for three months, which will be a good gauge for us to assess the suitability of electric buses as a public transport,” he said when officiating the CRRC Electric City Bus flag-off ceremony at the Old Courthouse yesterday.
The electric city bus service runs on the Route 101 loop starting from Open Air Market, covering a distance of around 14km.
It will be making 12 trips per day on one-hour intervals from 7am to 6pm at 26 stops, namely Open Air Market, Darul Hana Bridge, Chinese History Museum, Kuching Waterfront, Jalan Abell, Jalan Padungan, Jalan Ang Cheng Ho, Kuching South City Council (MBKS), iCom Square, Jalan Pending, MBKS Recreation Park, SJK(C) Chung Hua No. 3, Jalan Central Timur, Jalan Ban Hock, The Hills, Riverside Majestic Hotel, Main Bazaar, Kuching General Post Office, Sarawak Museum, Wisma Satok @ Jalan Satok, Al-Idrus Commercial Centre, Wisma Assar, Satok Suspension Bridge, Jalan Kulas, Wisma Satok @ Jalan Kulas, and Jalan Haji Taha.
Abdul Karim described the 26 stops identified for Route 101 as ‘perfect’ as it would provide passengers, particularly tourists, with the convenience of visiting Kuching’s various landmarks and heritage trail.
With the free bus service, he said this would also in turn promote the city in line with the Visit Sarawak Campaign (VSC) which his ministry and Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) have been aggressively promoting, and the campaign has shown ‘quite good results’ since its launch.
“The number of visitors to Sarawak, especially from other states in Malaysia, has dramatically increased to 68 per cent as compared with the same corresponding month in 2018, with total arrivals increasing by 10.72 per cent.
“When we compare the number of visitors to Sarawak in January last year with this year’s, we can see quite a remarkable increase of visitors with a total number of 326,337 visitors so far,” he revealed.
As such, Abdul Karim pointed out that the introduction of an electric bus service in Kuching is very much welcome, as it serves as a good transportation alternative to visitors as well as local folk.
“We will start with one bus first to see how it performs and if the response is very good, we will try to work out some kind of agreement with Henz Pacific Sdn Bhd and CRRC to maybe extend the service for one to three years or even expand to two buses,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Henz Pacific managing director Henry Lai said the electric bus, which can carry up to 53 passengers, also provides facilities such as free WiFi service provided by Digi and is also disabled-friendly with wheelchair accessibility.
“Apart from that, commuters will also be able to have real-time monitoring of their bus trips and the exact timing of the bus arrival or journey that they will be taking on the routes via the Kuching Metro app, which is now available on iOS and Android,” he added.
Also present were Assistant Minister of Transportation Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan, CRRC Asean Office director Yang Xiaofeng, Kuching South mayor Dato James Chan, Kuching North Datuk Bandar Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai and STB chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor.
Abang Johari (centre), flanked by Chong (fourth right) and Chai, holds up the ‘Cai Qing’ done through a lion dance performance during the dinner. At third right is Dr Sim. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: A special unit could be set up under the Sarawak cabinet to oversee the financial needs of Chinese independent secondary schools (Du Zhong) and aided Chinese primary schools (Jin Tie Hua Xiao) across Sarawak.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg says he is aware that these schools need financial assistance and that a Chinese school board had brought up the matter during a recent courtesy call on him.
At present, there are 14 Du Zhong and over 160 Jin Tie Hua Xiao throughout Sarawak.
“I’m looking into a request of a Chinese school board. Perhaps we could have a special unit to assist Chinese middle schools and Chinese primary schools.The purpose of having this unit is that we hope that these schools could work together with the Sarawak government in terms of funding,” he said during a Lunar New Year dinner held at the Alumni Hall of Chung Hua Primary School No 3 at Jalan Padungan here on Saturday.
Chai (left) presents a hamper to Abang Johari. Seen from second left are Chong, Zhang and Dr Sim. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
The festive do was jointly organised by five Hakka clan organisations – Sarawak Hakka Association, Kuching Taipoo Community Association, Sarawak Hopoh Association, Kuching Kaying Community Association and Kuching Fui Tung Onn Association.
Abang Johari, who is Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman, said his administration is determined to source for more revenues to implement more good economic policies that would have significant impact on Sarawak’s development.
He reminded all that the Sarawak government had imposed the five per cent sales tax on petroleum products.
“We can use this money (revenue collected from the new sales tax) to help our people, for the development of Sarawak and welfare of Sarawakians,” he said.
Abang Johari (third left) shakes hands with Wee upon his arrival. Seen are Chong (left) and Yong (right). — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
He hoped that all Sarawakians will rally behind him in bringing about further progress to the state.
“We are one, and we shall move forward together to develop our state of Sarawak.”
Abang Johari acknowledged that the economic outlook, be it at national or global level, may not be too good with the economy growing at quite a slow pace.
He said Sarawak would have to adapt to such economic scenario while striving to elevate its infrastructure development.
“This year, we have allocated big budget for infrastructure development in Sarawak as a move to speed up the economic development. We want to make sure that every community in Sarawak has access to water and electricity supply as well as road connectivity. We will upgrade our transportation,” he added.
Among those present were China’s Deputy Consul-General in Kuching Zhang Yang, Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong, Federation of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions Chinese Associations president Datuk Richard Wee, Sarawak Hopoh Association president Chong Thian Poh and organising chairman Datuk Dr Chai Khin Chung.
KUCHING: The police are urged to probe the alleged job scam that led to 47 Malaysians locked in a prison in Cambodia recently.
Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang said there had been a lot of scamming these days, and this particular one was worth investigating.
“The police should not stop there but to go into the details in order to catch the culprits and bring them to book.
“It is good that we bring the victims back so that the police can find out the details from them. I hope the police can clear up this problem,” he said when asked to comment on the release of 40 Sarawakian detainees in Cambodia, Friday.
Lo said he was not sure if locals were involved in the syndicate, but he urged the police to find out more and put an end to such menace. He suggested that the police called up the victims to get to the bottom of the problem.
“Members of the public, especially the younger people, must remember not to be greedy otherwise they will fall into a trap.”
Lo also applauded the Cambodian government for their concern with the Malaysian detainees; releasing them to their families in Sarawak, and to Minister of Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah and Santubong MP Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar for taking the initiative to go over to Cambodia to help in seeking their release.
The Sarawak government is funding the costs to bring back the Sarawakian detainees released from a Cambodian provincial jail on Friday.
Lo (seventh left) witnesses Peter Wong (sixth left) handing over the van’s mock key to Jacob Wong (eighth left) while others look on.
KUCHING: Home of Peace at Jalan Landeh here received a brand new van worth about RM83,000 from generous local donors yesterday.
The van was handed over by a representative of the donors Peter Wong Hung Huang to a director of the centre Jacob Wong, witnessed by Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang.
Lo, who is also Padawan Municipal Council (PMC) chairman, applauded all the donors who had chipped in for the brand new van.
“Everyone I called personally responded very generously. I thank all donors from the bottom of my heart. May God bless all of them,” Lo said after the handing over ceremony.
Home of Peace which is a society registered in 1960 under the Societies Act 1966 and wholly owned by the Catholic Welfare Services Council Sarawak and operated by Catholic Home Management Services Sdn Bhd (CHMS) is non-profit making. It depends solely on donation and sponsorship from the public.
Its objectives are educating society to value the elderly and counter the attitude of giving priority to immediate human usefulness and productivity; propagate a faith that illuminates the mystery of death and bring serenity to old age, thereby improving the capacity to enjoy life as God’s gift to us; and provide care for the elderly with love.
Currently, the home has 20 staff including an assistant medical officer, an assistant nurse and six caregivers to care for 24 elderly residents.
