PUBLIC TO FOSTER OPEN SPACE AND CHILDREN PLAYGROUND

by : Hiew King Cheu (ADUN Luyang)

                                                                         Open space needed maintenance

The many open spaces and children playgrounds in Kota Kinabalu are causing the DBKK much burden in terms of its maintenance and up keeping.

                                                 Damage fence   

This is a major area of complaints received by the Adun Luyang Office, and the public are not very happy over on how their open spaces and children playgrounds in their housing estates were maintained by the DBKK. Their feelings are understandable, because by making a survey to these areas, we can easily spot many associated problems like uncut grass, fallen trees, water logged ground, children play ground equipment damaged, fallen fences and even the pavement were not done up etc.

Adun Luyang Hiew King Cheu received public suggestions and requests that it would be better for the DBKK to allow the public or private companies to foster the open spaces or the playgrounds. This will enable them to provide proper maintenance and up keep of the place, and at the same time relieve the heavy burden on the part of DBKK to provide the necessary maintenance work and would save the DBKK a lot of money and also the ground can be up kept to a satisfactory condition. There are so many hundreds of such open spaces and playground in the Kota Kinabalu City and therefore it is worth considering such proposal by the DBKK.

In Luyang area, there are plenty of abandoned open spaces, and sending the grass-cutting workers will cost the DBKK a huge sum of money. The overgrown open space with big trees, bushes, tall grass can invite the rats, snakes and mosquitoes to live in, and which will endanger the people who live next to it. The typical piece of open space like this can be found in Taman Fu Yen next to Jalan Unta in Luyang.

The proposal to foster the open spaces or children play ground can be funded either by individual, the housing resident committee, companies, societies, associations, or the direct grant from DBKK for the purpose. By doing so, there will be new facilities for the children play ground, good walking tracks, concrete pavement for exercise, more benches and sheds, barbecue stoves, more trees and flowers beds. The whole ground can be transformed into a place where people like to take a rest and relax, especially for the elderly where they can do their morning walk or exercise.    

Hiew said this can be done without difficulties, and he hopes this plan can work out, in order to bring some new out look to Kota Kinabalu City.