‘Confusing’ governance system behind power, water woes: Rina
Published on: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
By: Larry Ralon
According to Rina, Sabah should prepare for the next 10 years and be ready to welcome rapid population growth with sustainable economic network planning.
Kota Kinabalu: “Confusing” governance system at the federal level is the reason behind the problem faced in the construction or provision of infrastructure for electricity and water supplies in Sabah, said Kukusan Assemblywoman Rina Jainal.She said this was based on the briefing she attended on Monday on the two main problems - electricity and water - in Sabah.
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“Yesterday (Monday), we attended a briefing and we saw how the construction or provision of infrastructure for electricity and water in Sabah has been hampered by a confusing governance system.
“Electricity, for example, gradually the work of upgrading electricity generation that has been approved at the federal level has been withdrawn or cancelled due to the insistence of high costs.
“In the end, the people blamed the State Government when it is greatly the Federal Government’s responsibility to resolve this issue.
“Not wanting to point the finger at one side only, the State Government should also act more aggressively in ensuring that the provision of these facilities can be channelled to solve the urgent needs in Sabah,” she said.
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She said this when debating on the motion of thanks to the Head of State’s policy speech at the State Assembly, here, Tuesday.
According to Rina, Sabah should prepare for the next 10 years and be ready to welcome rapid population growth with sustainable economic network planning.
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“But we are still here talking about outdated issues, looking for candles to light and looking for empty bottles to fill,” she said.
She, nevertheless, thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who assured to help Sabah in solving the water supply crisis.
“Thus, I am confident that through the demands of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), we can certainly obtain more state revenue that can ultimately be used for development in Sabah,” she said.
Rina also thanked the State Government for the upgrading project of Jalan Utara, Tawau, worth more than RM200 million, which will have a big impact on more than 10,000 road users daily.
“It’s all a result of the revenue generated by the State Government through the Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan (SMJ). It can be said that more than half of this route has been levelled and I hope this project will be completed according to schedule and will facilitate thousands of vehicles there,” she said.
She also hoped appropriate compensation would be given to the people affected by the said project. “This includes the owners of 15 squatter houses who are qualified and have lived there for more than 30 years to be given at least minimum compensation by the developer,” she added.
She also thanked the State Government for taking proactive action on the complaints of delayed scholarship payments from university students who received scholarship sponsorship from the State Government.
“Alhamdulillah, I understand that starting this new semester, scholarship payments are received early by students. There are even scholarship sponsors credited to the recipients’ accounts on the first day of the new semester.
“Similarly, the proposal to increase the ‘pointer’ from 2.5 to 3.0 to enable them to continue receiving scholarships is also said to be implemented to produce excellent and high-performing graduates.”
Rina also welcomed the State Government’s plan to empower science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem), especially with the construction of a science centre and maker space at the Tawau and Sandakan State Libraries.
“I believe this plan will be able to attract people’s interest to explore together and offer the latest attraction of the branch library. Nevertheless, I hope the problem of the ventilation and air-conditioning system in the Tawau State Library can be resolved immediately. Even though there are short-term solutions, it is still not enough,” she said.
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