A proper path to rely on :) - Manisha Mehta a/p Kamlesh.

By: Manisha Mehta  a/p Kamlesh

2012-122234

Topic: Ministry of Works

    Datuk Fadillah Yusof is a Malaysian politician. On 16 May 2013 after the 13th General Election, he was promoted as a Minister of Works under the new cabinet lineup of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. The Ministries of work objective is to develop and enhance a high quality infrastructure system, the construction industry and services. Ministry of work, Datuk Fadillah Yusof has manage his responsibility very well by having smooth highways and maintaining building in several states, but unfortunately there are few states which has no changes . For example, Sabah is still having damages roads where it causes car accidents and few places in Sabah the roads are too narrow for the car to pass by. Why is Sabah still the same where every other state is being upgraded with smoother roads ?

            The poor conditions of Sabah roads are nothing new. But the fact that the state are facing a serious road damages.  In Pulau Gaya, Keningau, Sook, Nabawan and Kalabakan in Sabah the communities living there faced a lot of problems. It was shocked to see the poor infrastructure. Sabah is lagging behind compare to west Malaysia. Imagine, about 50 km of the road from Keningau to Tawau is not properly surfaced. The Keningau to Tawau road is a main road, not an interior road. This is an example of discrimination by the central government towards Sabah. A frequent damage to Sabah roads was due to overloading as and steep downhill slopes and sharp curves. The overloading is so rampant that the roads get damaged faster.

    The cost of repairing a damaged road in Sabah is between RM1 million to RM2 million per kilometer while constructing a new road costs between RM3 million to RM4 million per kilometer. These roads are meant to last up to a decade before they were mended but now they needed major repairs as soon as possible. The owner of the vehicle will carry above the weight limit which is permitted and causes burden to the government.  Lands in Sabah seem to have been given to agencies and companies from West Malaysia and only 3-6% are controlled by Sabah people. We agree the influx of investors is a need, but not until the level reaches a stage where the people’s lands are seized. For example, in Ulu Merotai where 500 families who were given lands during Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) rule had their lands that was already producing oil palm seized. The people had used their own money to develop the land .

   Federal leaders should start “awakening” to the fact that road conditions in Sabah are poor and it was time they realized that ignoring their ‘fixed deposit’ state was no longer an option. MPs from Sabah are now ‘kingmakers’ and they could easily oust the ruling Barisan National government if the grievances of the Borneo states continue to be ignored. At the same time, BN leaders should start asking rightful for Sabah .The leaders, should not just make empty promises when they are in the Borneo states and then conveniently forget them when they fly back to peninsula.

References

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/09/11/sabah-jkr-grappling-with-overload-on-road-repairs/

http://sabahkini.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15350:old-telipok-road-badly-damaged&catid=37:politik&Itemid=41

http://sabahkini.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15346:bad-road-at-jalan-bukit-permai-menggatal&catid=35:berita-sabah&Itemid=27