KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government has been urged to draw up a comprehensive plan to address the issue of water villages in the state to create safer and more organised settlements, said Aliakbar Gulasan (appointed-PAS) yesterday.
Aliakbar, when debating the policy speech of Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at the state assembly sitting here, said the water villages issue was an old one in the state that has yet to be resolved.
Therefore, he said the time has come for the Sabah government to come up with a holistic solution, as a measure to reduce incidents of fire that often occur in these settlements, apart from overcoming other social issues such as squatters and undocumented migrants.
“I still remember the time I followed an operation to present assistance to residents in Kg Landung Ayang, Kudat, who were affected by fire, where some of the oldest residents said that they have been living in the water village for 64 years.
“However, according to them, no proper layout plan was done by the government during that period. Therefore, I think this issue should be addressed,” he said.
He added that the Sabah government had set a target of zero squatters by 2015. However, the target was not achieved, and other policies should be formulated to realise the goal of making Sabah’s urban and rural housing areas more organised.
Meanwhile, Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohamed Yassin (Nabawan-GRS), in his speech, spoke on the development of identified border towns such as Tawau and surrounding areas.
He also expressed hope that careful study would be carried out on the Pagalungan-Nabawan area, relating to its potential as a border town, as the Malaysia-Indonesia border is located in the district.
“I hope the government can consider speeding up the construction of the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex, so that it can be a pioneer in the development of other infrastructure. It is also part of preparations for the relocation of the Indonesian capital to Kalimantan, so that the ecosystem of economic and social activities will be more controlled,” he said.
Meanwhile, Datuk Christina Liew (Api Api-PKR) urged the Sabah government to take proactive action to resolve the issue of 16 ‘sick or problematic’ projects in the state, even though almost all of these projects are under the federal government.
She said the Sabah government needed to be more transparent on the progress of each project, as Sabah was among the states with the highest number of ‘sick projects”.
The Sabah assembly sitting continues today. – Bernama, March 22, 2022
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