SINCE the opening of the new library at Tanjung Aru in April this year, I have read quite a number of comments about it in your esteemed paper. Thanks to your great paper that the rakyat in Sabah are able to be well informed on many things.
As everyone knows, the library is run by people who are mostly scholars, thinkers, writers, academics, and so on, who are more inclined towards books than technicals.
This is why the implementing agency of the library is the JKR Sabah which has great numbers of experts in all fields in public works, including architects, engineers, etc.
For this reason, public queries on the library project should be answered by the JKR instead of being pushed to the library people.
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The attempt to answer such queries by the library authorities is a praiseworthy effort but I strongly feel they are not the competent party to tackle such matters as they are not technically equipped nor qualified to issue such comments. The question is why did the implementing agency allow this?
Is the JKR passing the buck? They should just answer public enquiries in a straightforward manner without beating about the bush.
This brings forth the question of the trees (Eugenia oleina — I found it from plant nurseries) that was talked about in the Sunday forum (16.6.2019) and last week’s D.E. Hotline.
Visitors are puzzled as to why the trees are of uneven sizes, and the explanation was that some trees were older than the others.
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The sensible thing to do would be for JKR to instruct its contractors to reduce the height to a generally even level so that they look more pleasant which fits with the image of a new library building just behind it. And when the trees grow bigger, it would create a beautiful picture.
If the JKR cannot even handle such a simple matter, than what is it good for? Growing fat and ambil gaji buta? The Tg. Aru Library is the people’s treasure. It is just a small project. Perhaps the Director of JKR should respond to all public queries personally.
Thank you for helping to defend the rights of the rakyat.