Kota Kinabalu: Mayor Datuk Yeo Boon Hai promised residents of several villages in Pulau Gaya affected by water and electricity shortages that City Hall and the Tanjung Aru Community Development Leader Unit will take positive action on their appeals. This followed the failure by the relevant Ministry to deliver both utilities to the residents as expected, although RM135 million had already been spent. In a statement, Wednesday, he said they expressed disappointment and frustration to that although the main water tank had been installed, no water supply reached the residents.
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As a result, a series of meetings were held and on Nov. 17, City Hall again received an appeal from the villagers to accelerate the supply of treated water.He said based on the information obtained, the project to install water pipes to Pulau Gaya under the first phase was implemented by the Water Department on Dec. 26, 2011 and completed on Sept. 13, 2015, six months later than the original completion schedule.
"The project was funded by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development at a cost of RM93.003 million. "However, the water supply was available only to Gaya Resort and not connected to the villages in the island as specified in the original scope of the project," he said.
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"This matter was also raised in the Auditor General's report in 2016 and presented in the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Accounts (Public Accounts Committee) in Parliament," he added.Meanwhile, the electric cable had been installed at Pulau Gaya at a cost of RM42 million on July 31, 2013 and power supplied gradually through the allocation of the Rural Electrification Supply Programme (BELB) under the Ministry.
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However, only a handful of residents enjoyed the convenience of electricity and at the same time there are still many villagers complaining about the lack of electricity.The over 10,000 residents are from several villages such as Kampung Lok Urai, Kampung Kasuapan, Kampung Lobong and Kampung Pulau Gaya Asal / Terong Logong.
