Pairin: Ministry to ensure smooth running of high impact projects
Published on: Saturday, April 18, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Infrastructure Development Ministry is committed to ensure the implementation of high impact development projects run smoothly this year.Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said such focus was to ensure the completion of the projects enhances the wellbeing of people in Sabah.He said the physical projects involve upgrading the coverage of roads, boosting the capacity of treated water supply and development of rails and maritime infrastructures in line with the current needs of the whole State.
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He said the ministry will also ensure completion of these projects keeps to their respective schedule without delay."We are now in the fourth 'Rolling Plan' (RP4) (2014 – 2015) and 2015 is the last under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP). Under the RP4, my ministry has received approval for a ceiling fund of RM314.5 million to carry out development programmes for Sabah for the two-year period (2014 and 2015)."Last year, a total of RM298.5 million was provided to put out various projects under development programmes of the ministry. Of the figure, about 86.37 per cent of the funds or RM240.592 million had been spent for the purpose."For this year, I am thankful that the State government has provided allocation of RM238.4 million to finance programmes to be distributed to four departments under the ministry," he said.
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Pairin who is also Deputy Chief Minister, said this in his winding up speech at the State Legislative Assembly here on Thursday.He said a total of RM79.64 million was allotted for the Public Works Department (JKR) that will carry out new and continuation projects such as providing roads in the city covering Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau and small townships, rehabilitation of roads, providing good roads to tourism, agriculture and industrial areas, urban and rural settlements.
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In addition, he said the projects also include traffic and road safety programmes, sewerage development programmes, building bridges and slopes on roads programmes.Under the Water Department that received funding of RM142.32 million, Pairin said the allocation would be used for projects involving emergency and unexpected works for water supply in Sabah, a programme to reduce the loss of non-revenue water, upgrading main pipes distribution and piping connection, and a programme to build, replace and upgrade water tanks, reservoirs and water treatment plants, among others.On improving the railway services, Pairin said the State Railway Department allocated with RM12.14 million will focus on completing projects including purchasing a 'tamping machine' that is expected to be procured in October this year.He said the department also aims to increase the capabilities of railway transport by increasing the assets that will be carried out this year, so that the department could re-schedule its services based on the needs and demand of public. He added that the railway tracks and level crossings would continue to be maintained to enhance the level of safety towards delivering reliable, safe and efficient train services. Sabah Ports and Harbour Department which has been given an allocation of RM4.35 million, Pairin said the money would be used to enhance efforts to equip all ports in Sabah with cargo handlers and equipment that are more modern and efficient in uploading and downloading goods.Furthermore, he said efforts include promoting Sepanggar port as a 'Transhipment Hub for the Bimp-Eaga Region' with the Sabah Ports Authority proposing Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP) as the 'Transhipment Hub of East by 2030.Pairin also commended the Federal Government for its commitment to cater to infrastructure development needs in Sabah by providing an allocation of RM690.89 million and RM349.7 million for the Public Works Department and Water Department, respectively, to implement several mega projects.Among the projects, he said are sewerage treatment plant Phase 2 in Kota Kinabalu and Keningau and water treatment plants in Beaufort, Kundasang, Semporna and Keningau.Under Federal Development Programmes in 2015, he said several projects have been carried out to address congested traffic flows namely at Jalan Labuk and Libaran Bypass Phase 4 in Sandakan, Jalan Segama – Northern Bypass Phase 1 in Lahad Datu, flyovers at Mile 5½ along Tuaran road and at Jalan Kolam, Lintas including additional third lane from a junction at Mile 5½ along Tuaran road heading to a junction at Jalan Kolam, Lintas, a flyover at Jalan Kolam Bukit Padang – Jalan Lintas, a dual carriage way along Jalan Tawau – Semporna and a dual carriage way along Jalan Benoni – Papar.For the Pan Borneo road in Sabah, he said about RM12 billion has been allocated for Sabah to establish the roads for Pan Borneo for five years beginning this year.On the concerns of Pantai Manis assemblyman Datuk Abdul Rahim Ismail who raised the issue of the Papar bridge near Kg. Buang Sayang that often caused traffic congestion, Pairin said a structure inspection on the bridge showed that the condition of the bridge is still very good."Hence, there is no plan to replace the Papar bridge. However, a new bridge crossing the Papar River near the district mosque would be built in the upgrading of Jalan Lok Kawi – Pengalat for 21 kilometres that has been proposed to be realised in the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP). "The projects have been approved by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak during 'Aku Janji' and roadshow campaign prior to the 13th General Election," he said.Furthermore, he said, the congestion at the existing bridge would be resolved after the Pan Borneo road connecting Beaufort-Papar-Kota Kinabalu is completed as the official statistic showed that 60 per cent of motorists that pass through the existing bridge do not go to the Papar township but instead head to the State capital.Responding to Klias assemblyman Datuk Lajim Ukin, Pairin said a project to replace the transmission pipes system from Limbawang to a booster pump station at Tamu Kayul has been fully completed and in operation to supply water to the nearby villagers while the project to construct a water treatment plant and installation of pipes in Beaufort are on-going and ahead of schedule with progress at 57.39 per cent.On disruption of water supply in Tawau raised by Sri Tanjong assemblyman Chan Foong Hin, he replied that the approved Air Tawau dam project to be built at Cinta Mata is expected to start by the third quarter of this year and will take five years to be completed.On shortage of water supply raised by Lahad Datu assemblyman Datuk Yuspf Apdal, Pairin said his ministry is aware that the existing plant can only supply 68 million litres per day while the current demand for water is 91 million litres per day.Therefore, he said his ministry through the Water Department has planned to carry out two projects – Emergency Water Supply Scheme (EWSS) project Lahad Datu as the short-term solution and Lahad Datu Water Supply System project as the long-term one.On water supply woes in Kuala Penyu and Menumbok raised by Kuala Penyu assemblyman Limus Juri, Pairin said an approved Federal-funded RM48 million project to supply water to Menumbok township and Kuala Penyu is in the midst of appointing a consultant to do the design and build study for the project.Once the process is completed, he said the implementation of the project would depend on the results of the design and build study."For Kuala Penyu and Menumbok, the current water demand is 14 million litres per day while the capacity of the water treatment plant at Limbawang is 12.5 million litres per day."Hence, the water capacity at the plant would be increased from 12.5 million litres per day to 14 million litres by end of April. Meanwhile the supply of water from its treatment plant in Membakut is only one million litres per day that is channelled to Kuala Penyu and its shortage of 0.5 million litre per day would be fully addressed by end of April," he said.On Moyog assemblyman Terence Siambun's concern on water woes at Kg.Babagon and other villages at Upper Moyog, Pairin said those areas are outside the distribution system of treated water due to their location at hilly areas and the Moyog treatment plant could not supply the water using gravity method to those areas in Penampang.Nonetheles, he said his ministry has forwarded a proposal through a Sabah Rural Water Supply Programme to install connecting pipes to supply water to Kg.Babagon and Kg. Notoruss that comprised a booster pump station and water reservoir to be realised in the 11th Malaysia Plan.On the new water tariff, Pairin said the rationale for the implementation of the structure water tariff was that Sabah had never reviewed the rate since 1982 or for 33 years while other states did their review several times on the water tariff rate.At this juncture, Likas assemblyman Junz Wong said the new tariff rate of charging 90 sen per litre in Sabah is the highest rate compared to other states in the country and it is burdening the people in the State.Pairin further explained that the new rate is imposed to enhance public awareness and to educate the consumer to be prudent when using water in their routine and daily lives.He said rationalisation of the new water tariff is to make the consumers accountable for the amount of water that they waste and pay for it.In fact, he said the new structure water tariff is unique and it is implemented for 11 categories under three domestic groups."Domestic 1 is for consumers where the water meters are installed individually by the Water Department and the water tariff is 30 sen for 0 – three cubic metres, 60 sen between 11 – 20 cubic metres, RM1.10 between 21 – 35 cubic metres, RM1.30 send for between 36 – 60 cubic metres and RM1.80 for consumers using water more than 60 cubic metres. The minimum charge is RM3 per month."Domestic 2 is for those living in condominiums that have pool facilities and other facilities that used water like for cleaning landscapes and are supplied with wholesale or bigger metres. The tariff rate is RM1.30 for one cubic metre of water used and the minimum charge is RM150 per month.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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