Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan Wirawati claimed the GRS-led State Government failed to check the cleanliness, functionality of public utilities and development projects in Putatan.
Its Wirawati Information Chief Izzatul Aini said Putatan residents have done their part by raising awareness of the concerns on social media, but such efforts appear to have gone unnoticed.
“Rubbish can be seen scattered throughout Putatan town, posing a serious health risk when converging flies or rodents attracted to the bad smell continue their journey to some unfortunate people’s meals.
“A sewerage project near the IMW Driving School Academy has no cover, endangering not only pedestrians, particularly young children, but also road users.
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She added that while Putatan residents must work together to keep the neighbourhood clean and safe, it is ultimately the responsibility of the local government to supervise and manage the district appropriately.
“As a result, the local authorities must first develop a mindset to transform Putatan into a clean, safe district, and then engage in continuous implementation with local community leaders.
“They must also ensure enough employees, particularly in the enforcement unit, to monitor the town and other commercial/residential areas in the district. Garbage bins and collection facilities must be sufficient to meet the needs of the population, and other public utilities such as streetlights and fire hydrants must be operational at all times.
“They can also adopt Kota Kinabalu City Hall’s (DBKK) strict policy on litter bugs, which was implemented in Kota Kinabalu in the early 2000s and successfully reduced instances of indiscriminate rubbish throwing in that city.
“Clogged drainage system must be cleaned to prevent flash floods and periodic inspection must be conducted to prevent grass from becoming overgrown - in short, while Putatan requires major uplift and beautification plans, periodic maintenance must be prioritised,” she added.
“But sadly, we don’t see such enthusiasm from the GRS perhaps because they’re not in sync with the aspirations held by the younger generations towards Putatan,” she said.
Izzatul further said that Wirawati will prioritise the reform of local governments in Sabah as the party prepares for the upcoming State Election.
“Revamping the local authorities to make it more competent and responsible is necessary to ensure Sabah maximize its economic potential especially in the service (tourism/retail) and manufacturing industries.
This is also to prevent malpractices and abuse of power that breeds corruption especially on non-essential projects that has no purposes or returns.
A competent local authorities can also reduce crimes and this will make women and students, not only within this district but from others as well, feel much safer to move around Putatan and this in turn will help rejuvenate the district’s economy,” she said.
She also said that local authorities all over Sabah should improve their competency and services before planning to increase the assessment rates or introduce new fees as mean of revenue generation.
“Sabahans are getting more and more irritated when local authorities all over the State are talking about increasing assessment rates and collecting money from the people by introducing new fees at a time when wastage, incompetency and non-accountability are still prevalent.
While it is understandable that local authorities have to be proactive in finding ways to generate revenues to sustain its operations, we believe that they should firstly improve their competency and services to the population - what is the guarantee that the competency and services will greatly improve after the increment or introduction of new fees or rates?” she said.
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