'Minister's remarks on open space don't tally' claim
Published on: Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: Youths are questioning the conversion of a football field which has been zoned as an open space in Inanam town into a car park by City Hall and claim it is making a mockery of the local authority's own rules."We are not against development but we want to know if there is going to be a replacement for the lost open space," said former State footballer, Bobby Chua, Tuesday. The 1990s household name said the Inanam football field was important because it was where youths were able to converge to play football, among others, including him back in his early days.
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Based on the development signboard, the project belonging to City Hall commenced work on June 16 and is expected to be completed by March 16 next year.The project description was "to provide and improve the car park facility in the Kota Kinabalu City area.""Now we are concerned that the youths in Inanam have no football field to carry out sporting activities," said Chua.He was also concerned that if no answer was forthcoming from City Hall it would give room for the opposition to turn it into an issue come the next General Election.
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A check with the Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020 showed the area in question was a green-coloured zone and stated as being for Landscape and Open Space (Sport and Recreation).Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"It cannot be used even by City Hall for its private use, as it is meant for public use like green lung, playground, balairaya and so on i.e. for public common use," Yong was quoted as saying in the report on Saturday. Hence, Chua said, an explanation is in order.
