DAY LONG INSPECTION TOUR TO HELP SOLVE COMMUNITY PROBLEMS

Parked buses obstructing efforts to clean up the filthy drains at Bandar Leetat

SANDAKAN : The Sandakan Municipal Council Highway and Public Utilities Committee (HPUC) together with Community Development Officers and representatives from the respective elected representatives service centres  recently conducted a day long inspection tour that covered several localities in Sandakan.

Among those who made the tour were Elopura Community Development Leader (PPM) Jason Pang and representatives from the Sandakan MP  service centre.

“Although we have visited some of these localities before, we are making followup visits to check on what has or has not been done and also identify new problems to tackle. We have also received some complaints which we decided to hear and see for ourselves,” said Head of HPUC Taren Sunil Manoharan.

At Taman Tshun Ngen, many residents were unhappy with the ongoing cable laying being done by a telco. They complained about “cable junction boxes” being located at unsuitable places.

Following their complaint the joint inspection team met with them and the telco officers/contractors and an agreement was reached to relocate these “cable junction boxes” to more suitable places.

At Bandar Kim Fung, there was a complaint about a broken concrete cover for some sort of underground telecommunication chamber. In spite of several reports having been lodged, it has not been replaced for some time and the gaping hole is currently covered with a flimsy wooden board. The fact that it is located on a busy walkway right in front of a coffee shop makes it a danger to passersby.

“We will act on this matter promptly,” said Taren Sunil.

Meanwhile there was a case at Hock Seng Industrial Estate where a businessman could not gain access to his premises due to the very poor condition of the road section in front of his business premises. This issue was also noted by the visiting team and will be marked for repair.

At the area around the Outstation Bus Terminal at Bandar Leetat, the joint team found huge buses and many cars parked at corners and lanes very close to the drains. Apparently, a few of these were junk vehicles abandoned by their owners.

“We found the drains there to be chocked with plastic bottles and other trash because workers and equipment sent by the local authorities and contractor PKM were obstructed from cleaning up the place.

We advised the owners and drivers as well as some of the residents to move their vehicles to other locations so that we can do a proper clearing of the drains and roadsides there,” said Taren Sunil.

Although some of the complaints may seem to be trivial, Taren Sunil said that when many seemingly small issues are taken together, the public will feel dissatisfaction with the local authorities if nothing is done.

“The public will blame the local authorities and the Government for not doing our work. Besides, if we leave small issues unattended to, they could develop into bigger problems and cost more money to remedy later,” added the HPUC Head.

The joint inspection tour took the team members from place to place starting at Mile 6 all the way to Mile 2 along Jalan Utara. It took almost an entire day to complete.