556,000 visit UTC Sabah in 7 months
Published on: Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: More than half a million people have visited the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) Sabah here since it opened its doors to the public seven months ago.Revealing this during the Question and Answer session at the State Assembly sitting on Monday, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the centre which housed 22 federal agencies, 12 state agencies and five private sector bodies and NGOs received a total of 556,543 people with more than half of them coming to obtain services offered by the various agencies."According to the statistics provided by the visitor management system, the National Registration Department (NRD) received the most number of visitors with 112,570 came to the counter for services such as renewing identity cards and registering birth certificates.
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"Pos Malaysia recorded 37,046 visitors while Sabah State Library received 33,685 visitors. A total of 34,878 came to the Road Transport Department counter and 24,856 people visited the Immigration Department counter," he said.The UTC Sabah is one of the government efforts and initiatives to provide the urban community with key government and private sector services under one roof.The centre here is located at Jalan Belia, Off Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and started operation on Dec 16 last year. It is open from 8am till 9pm daily except on public holidays.Among the services provided at the centre are counters to pay bills, licence registration, bank loans application, counselling services provided by State Women Affairs Department and various activities for youths, the elderly and children.
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The centre also has a gym, courtesy of the Youth and Sports Ministry with state-of-the-art equipment."Activities for the elderly such as yoga, therapy and recreation will be provided soon, whereas a nursery for children below the age of four will soon be put into place.
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"I have personally visited the centre twice and I was told that those who came to the centre said they were extremely satisfied and happy about the facilities provided for them," added Musa.He also stated that the government will consider building such UTCs in other districts such as Sandakan and Tawau if there is any demand for such centre in other areas.Regarding the complaints from the public on the difficulty of getting transportation from the centre, Musa said he is aware that the area is a bit cramped to allow all cars to have access into it especially taxis."However, we will consider this issue and will work to find a solution to this problem very soon," he said.Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan said the ministry has no plan to build new Community Sports Complexes (KSK) in the State because of its high cost.Replying to a question from Karamunting Assemblyman Charles Pang Su Pin, Tawfiq said Sandakan already has a sports complex which can be used by the local communities, especially the youths."The KSK in Sungai Manila, Libaran, Sandakan is the only KSK in the State. It was built on a three-acre area at a cost of RM3.36 million and started its operation in August last year."It has various sports facilities such as four badminton courts, four sepak takraw courts, one netball court and one multipurpose court," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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