SIPITANG ESPLANAD QUESTIONABLE

DAMAGED….Views of the Esplanad Sipitang, the damaged timber board walk and the arch built by SLDB.

By : DAP MEDIA

LAST Saturday, the Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament Hiew King Cheu was invited to visit Sipitang, the visit was arranged by the PKR members.

Hiew had a dialogue with the PKR and DAP members in Sipitang town to understand more about the problems in the areas. The Sabah DAP Vice chair Edward Ewol Mujie and the special assistance to the KK MP office Max Teo also came along during the visit.

The discussion held was very useful because many issues and problems in Sipitang were highlighted to the MP Hiew, and this meeting also touched on the general election preparation work in Sipitang for the Pakatan Rakyat.

Hiew was later brought to take a walk to see the new waterfront ‘Esplanad Sipitang’, where he was told that this is constructed with a sum of RM 12 million and SLDB (Sabah Land Development Board) had also built an arch with a sum of RM500,000 as a contribution.

The people there told Hiew that they think the work carried out there definitely do not need such a huge sum of money because it is a small project at the waterfront. It is a shame that the timber board walk constructed did not withstand the sea wave and almost half of it was destroyed. Now on site, we can only see some poles left standing in the sea without a timber platform.

Hiew commented that whether the RM 12 million spent on the project is justified or not is entirely up to the government. The government is spending our money at their ‘whelm and fancy’, but definitely this will be a good case for the Audit General to check on the sum. Hiew said he will refer the case to the Audit General.

As for the Arch built by the SLDB (Sabah Land Development Board), the people in Sipitang asked whether this is outside the jurisdiction and spending power of the SLDB to utilize such a big sum to build an expensive arch for Sipitang, and some people said may be this is because the MP Sipitang is the Board chairman of SLDB. We need to investigate in more detail and may be SLDB can explain to the people on the rational in building the arch.

Hiew said the money spent here in not entirely wrong on having the intention to provide a face lift to Sipitang, but we must remember that there are many other areas which also needed attention in Sipitang. The poor villages in Sipitang and the nearby kampongs are in need of infrastructure development. There are needs for the PPRT housing and this must be implemented and constructed soon.

Sipitang is in need of industrial and agriculture development, and the government should make an effort to plan for these and get them implemented. We can not allow Sipitang to be left far behind and remained as a backward town. The people here also deserve equal share of development and their share of allocation.