RM38m Tg Aru to UMS walk and cycle path soon

Kota Kinabalu: A RM38 million pedestrian cum cycle path stretching 23.5km from Tanjung Aru to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will be constructed soon as part of the City's Environment Project.


He said this during the flag-raising ceremony in conjunction with the 12th anniversary of Kota Kinabalu's city status at Padang Merdeka, Thursday, which also marked his first year as Mayor.

"Tenders for the project will be called this April.

Construction will begin by middle of this year," said Madingkir.

The project will be divided into four parcels with Parcel One being a 5.2km long cycle-way from Sabah Port to Likas Bay.

The Parcel One, which will take about 12 months to complete, will include a bicycle shared path, bridge, covered bicycle parking, lighting and signages, children playground, benches, rubbish bin, transit seating and bicycle rack.

Parcel Two will entail a 12.6km route stretching from Tanjung Aru to Sembulan and Parcel Three, a 4.5km route within the city's Central Business District.

Upon completion, Parcel Three will also have amenities such as public toilet, shower, lockers and barriers.
And Parcel Four will be a 3km route ending at Tun Mustapha Building or UMS.

Among other projects lined up for this year, he said, are the Sembulan River Park Phase Two and Three construction and that this will include cleaning works on the river.

The construction of a bus terminal at Jalan Kepayan will also begin, among other upgrades, to the City Bus service.

Madingkir said works on clearing and cleaning the city gutters had already begun in January to avoid flash floods.

He said City Hall's 5K Programme, which has been conducted in pilot township, Menggatal, will also be extended to other townships.

The programme is aimed at developing townships with five core objectives, namely, cleanliness, beautification, safety, orderliness and wellbeing.

Madingkir said campaigns such as the Anti-Litter and the Reduce Plastic Bags will also be continued consistently.

"Even if we can't ban plastic at the moment, we urge everyone to keep Saturday, Sunday and Monday to reduce the use of plastic bags.

"Even so, the public could still purchase the bags for 20 sen each," he said, adding the public could bring their own bags to do shopping on the said days.

And, he said, City Hall is also considering to adopt the public's requests, to permanently ban plastic for the said three days.

Madingkir, who has also been Mayor for a year now, said City Hall's goals are based on the National Transformation Agenda, Government Transformation Programme (GTP), National Key Economic Area (NKEA), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the Tenth Malaysia Plan (2011-2015).

He said these have been used by City Hall as a guideline to provide the city's half a million population the best service and to further boost the City Hall Strategic Plan 2011-2015.

"In the short period of 2011, City Hall has succeeded in rolling out programmes such as the 5K programme in Menggatal.

"Beautification of main roads, along Jalan Lintas, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Telipok township area, Jalan Kolam flyover flat area and area close to the State Mosque near Jalan Sembulan," Madingkir said, adding that the programme will be continued in the years to come.

He said 2011 also saw upgrades and beautification done on all roundabouts in the city, first phase of Sembulan River Park being constructed and lay-by for taxis and buses.

"City Hall is always faced with high expectations from the public and taxpayers for their services.
"This year we will continue focusing on the Strategic Plan. And we will also intensify actions in rolling out programmes in the plan," he said.

He said City Hall is spending around RM95,000 to maintain the city's cleanliness every month and the figure adds up to RM19 million a year when it comes to solid waste management.

He also expressed concern that vandalism is becoming more rampant of late and viewed it seriously.
"Manhole and drain covers and concrete slabs are sometimes gone.

Let's just use communal bins, City Hall needs to spend about RM1,800 every time a bin is replaced.
"In a month, about 20 communal bins are being vandalised," he said.

Among present at the flag raising ceremony was visiting Korean Mayor from Yongin City, Kim Hak Kyu, City branch Puspanita Chairwoman, Datin Florence Malangkig, City Hall Director-General, Datuk Yeo Boon Hai, City Hall Board of Advisors and a delegation from Yongin City.

The event earlier saw a parade by participating contingents from City Hall's Enforcement, Service and Health, Corporate Affairs, Engineering, Financial, City Planning, Human Resource, Law, Evaluation and other departments.

It included institutes of higher learning, secondary and primary schools, private sector, school clubs and associations.

There were also cultural performances presented to the VIPS and a prize giving ceremony to the winning marching contingents, namely, SK Sri Gaya, SMK Perempuan Likas and City Hall's Health and City Service Department.

Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=80540

Green Sabah says: The anti-litter and reduce plastic bags campaign should be better promoted in the states so that more people will be able to take part in it. Currently the 'No plastic bags on Saturday, Sundays and Mondays' seemed to be doing quite well and I've noticed more people carrying recycle bags while shopping these days. 

As for the vandalism of public facilities such as communal bins, man hole covers and others are an despicable act that reflected the uncivilized mentality of the vandals. Not only does vandalism cost the taxpayers and government money and effort to replace the damaged items, it is also dangerous in some ways.