Friday 18 November 2011

FPT Speech on 16 Nov 2011 Dun Sitting

Tuan Speaker
As an elected and responsible Yang Berkhidmat, it is my obligation to raise on some important issues in my constituency as well as outside my constituency, such as traffic congestion problems, Road problems in Sarawak, Chinese Medium School, Miri general hospital, and Woman welfare.....

Traffic jam in miri
Tuan Speaker, the federal government always alleges that fuel subsidy has become a heavy financial burden to the government, and urges the people to understand that it cannot continue with the subsidy. At the same time, the government also urges the people to pay a supporting role in its progressively subsidy reducing policy; the government also encourages people to carpool (sharing transport /vehicle) so as to avoid unnecessary wastage of fuel. Due to the inflation and high price of fuel, the people are living in poverty; they have to be very careful in their expenses. Wasting of fuel may put them in a difficult situation. Therefore, the government’s suggestion may not solve any problem but make the people even angrier. The government should within its ability put more effort to show its sincerity. We know that to improve public transport system is a long term planning; but in a short term, solve or at least alleviate the traffic congestion is one of the ways that the government can do to decrease unnecessary wastage of fuel. For instance, people would only spend 15 minutes to make a certain trip during no traffic congestion period, but would spend an hour and more to make the same trip during traffic congestion period. Does it mean that more than 70% or rather most of the fuel had been wasted unnecessary? These unnecessary expanses increase the financial burden of the people and at the same time increase the government’s fuel subsidy.

Peak hour traffic jam during schooling day at SJK Krokop and SMK Chung Hua Miri
Tuan Speaker, the problems that we are facing in front of the SJK Krokop are...firstly; insufficient parking space in front of the school to enable parents to stop their vehicle while waiting for their children. Secondly, some inconsiderate parents simply park their cars in the middle of the road while fetching their children and causing traffic jam. Some even block the entrance of the houses nearby the school.

To solve the problem there …. I suggest the government would take this long school holiday as a good time, to cover the drains nearby the school in order to provide more space for parking for the parents. Secondly, traffic police officers should be present during Peak hours to control the traffic flow, to monitor the situation there, and appropriate action should be taken to discourage the stubborn public from causing unnecessary traffic jam.

Tuan Speaker, the road in front of SMK Chung Hua Miri is actually wide enough for the parents to stop and fetch their children. If traffic police officer can be present during peak hours every day to make sure that u-turn lane and the lane beside the u-turn lane are not occupied by inconsiderate parents waiting for their children, the congestion problem in front of SMK Chung Hua Miri could be alleviated easily.

Should traffic police be short of manpower, other enforcement unit such as police field force could be sent to keep the traffic in order.

Congestion of the Tudan Road
Tuan speaker, people are outraged about the congestion of the Tudan Road during the rush hours. People have to go out from the house as early as 6:00am in order to allow them to reach their office in Time at 8:00am. The existing Tudan Road is just too small and narrow, it only has two lanes, and even the “longkang” on each side of the road is wider than the road itself. The road needs to be upgraded into a four-lane freeway. People there are crying out for the government to make this a top priority.

Tuan Speaker, Traffic congestion during rush hours also happens in Piasau Bridge, and Pujut 7 Bridge.

Although we understand that the bridge expansion projects of Piasau Bridge and Pujut 7 Bridge have been already started a few months ago but people in Miri want to know the progress on these two bridge projects, they want to know when these two bridge projects can be completed. People are watching the progress of the construction of the two bridges closely and hope to see them be completed on time.

Tuan Speaker, Padang Kerbau bypass project, which can direct traffic flow from Pujut 7 congestion, also needs to be implemented. This will alleviate the congestion in Pujut 7. As the number of housing and the population in Permy Jaya area has increased gradually, to prevent heavy traffic jam in the near future, people there really hope that this project can be implemented as fast as possible.

RPR 6 miles alternative route
The existing route taken by residents of RPR 6 miles to downtown centre is extremely dangerous, because in order to reach downtown centre, they have to cross the two-lane Pujut-Lutong Highway, then turn around into Pujut-Miri Highway towards town centre.
Vehicles travelling at high speed on both sides of the highways pose great danger and threat to RPR 6 miles users attempting to make a turn around. Inevitably, over the years, numerous fatal accidents had happened.

The residents, concerned about their safety, request our government to build a safer alternative route for them. According to sources from Miri City Council, a plan has been proposed to upgrade the route, but to date no one knows what the plan is. With regard to this plan, the residents would like to be informed on the nature and details of the project, and its expected date of implementation and completion. The residents sincerely hope that there will be a safer route in the near future.

Roads of Sarawak
People of Sarawak have been marginalized although we generate so much revenues for the federal government with our natural resources such as oil and gas, minerals, timber and oil palms just to mentioned a few. If the government is to adopt a policy in reducing fuel subsidy, Sarawakian would be further marginalized which is unfair to the Sarawakian. The roads in Sarawak are in terrible conditions as compared with our peninsular counterparts. The deputy Prime Minister had once indicated that he felt embarrassed about the road in Sarawak. Look at our Pan Borneo Highway, a highway consists of only two lanes with a lot of potholes, it poses great threat to the road users travelling in high speed. Look at our Lapok Road, after 150 million ringgit had been allocated for the re-construction in year 2009, but the road condition is still in a terrible condition. Potholes can be found everywhere. During rainy season, its deplorable condition is not safe to the road users. If it is during a heavy rainy day, vehicles driving on the road would be like driving on a river. Our Miri Marudi Road, basically, is built by the logging company for the purpose of transporting logs.
During rainy season, due to its hilly, muddy and slippery terrain, it is extremely dangerous to drive on it. Other than 4wd vehicles, ordinary cars are not able to travel safely on the road. During the boat racing festival on the late September and early October this year, a lot of tourists came to Marudi. After the festival, because of raining, a lot of the tourists stayed overnight by the road side sleeping in their cars along Marudi-Miri Road. They didn’t want to take the risk of losing their lives on the dangerous slippery road.

The terrible condition of the road can be evidenced by the news reported by English paper heading “the Pan Borneo Highway stretch between Bintulu and Miri has become notorious for fatal accidents” on 06.03.2011.

The terrible road conditions endanger (jeopardize) the life of the people travelling on the road and cause damages to the vehicles travelling on the road, if the government is really concerned about the safety of the Sarawakian and has sympathy for the victims and their family, the government should immediately upgrade the above mentioned road.

Chinese medium school

Tuan speaker, The Chinese Medium schools in Miri are over congested right now. There are 6 Chinese Medium Schools categorised as Class A School in Miri. All of the schools have more than 1500 students in it. Most of the classes now are over packed with 45 or more students. There is an urgent need to build more Chinese medium school in Miri. According to the standard set by our education department, one class should not exceed 35 pupils. If we are to follow this standard, at least two more Chinese medium schools should be built in Miri immediately.

Tuan speaker, all the Miri residents know that in Miri city, there are over 30 acres of vacant land near boulevard commercial centre which is used by JKR now. Why can’t the state government alienate the land into smaller lots and allocate them for the building of a much needed Chinese medium school in Miri? Only 5 acres of land is enough to build a school which can accommodate over 1000 pupils. We really hope that our state government can grant the wishes of Chinese community in Miri.

Tuan Speaker, there is another school which has been over congested and requires the state government to allocate a piece of land for its expansion plan. SJK North Miri is located on a very small piece of land at the town centre in Miri. Over the years the number of the student has increased substantially and it is now overly congested. Unfortunately, there is no land for the school to do the class room expansion. Although the school has been promised a piece of land by the state government, however, until now the school have not been given the land title yet.

Tuan Speaker, Land title should be issued immediately to SJK North Miri in order to allow the school to do the planning work as soon as possible. Since the land already being allocated to the school, what is the actually cause of the delay in the issuing of the tittle?

Tuan Speaker, All vernacular schools should be treated equally. The Pakatan Rakyat state governments provide funding for all schools in their states, regardless what is the stream of the school. Our state government is rich and with budget surplus every year, Why cannot provide little funding for the Chinese Medium Schools in Sarawak?

General Hospital in Miri
Tuan Speaker, as the main General Hospital for patients in northern Sarawak which includes those referred from Baram, Lawas, Limbang, Marudi and ulu areas, there is a calling to upgrade the Miri General Hospital from the current secondary grade to tertiary grade. As at today, despite Miri has been elevated as a City for more than 6 years, Miri GH is still not having its own Radiotherapy Unit for cancer patients who will have to travel a long way to Sarawak GH in Kuching for treatment. Furthermore, there are only limited numbers of specialists based in Miri GH and these specialists have regular travelling programs to the other hospitals to conduct clinics and training sessions. In the circumstances, patients admitted to the hospital would sometimes miss the golden opportunity to be treated on time.

Miri GH does not have in-house cardiology specialists or neurosurgeon and they have to come from Kuching on a monthly basis. This is in fact burdening the people of northern Sarawak who will have to incur more costs for travelling to Kuching to seek treatment and worse still, if they are at the critical stage, they may die for not receiving immediate treatment in time from the proper specialists. The government has spent billions of Ringgit building dams, claiming that it will benefit the people of Sarawak at large, and yet, not upgrading our general hospital or securing enough specialists to save our people’s life and health. The need to equip the Miri GH with sufficient specialists and medical facilities, and services should be carried out immediately.

Women Welfare
The objectives of the National Policy on women to ensure equitable sharing of resources and development opportunities between men and women, and the integration of women into all sectors of development in accordance with their capabilities and needs, should be borne by the government; however, it should be noted that the needs of divorced and single mothers have not been well contemplated and taken care of all this while.

The number of divorced and single mothers in Miri is generally increasing due to the increase of divorce rate. Generally, those divorced and single mothers have difficulties looking after their children or to compete at the same platform for job opportunities and earning capacity. In order to truly achieve “People first, Performance now”, this group of people in our local community and their need for safe and supportive resource centres should not be neglected. I hope that the Sarawak Government can really taking care of them.

Tuan Speaker, with that I conclude my speech. Thank you.

FPT Questions on Nov 2011 Dun Sitting

1. To ask the Minister of Industrial Development (written answer):

Jobs in oil and gas sectors for Sarawakians has become scarce in
Sarawak.
a. Please state the percentage of Sarawakian workers / staffs employed
by Shell and Petronas in Miri offshore and onshore.
b. Please state the percentage and number of licensed contractors in
Shell and Petronas in Miri
who are Sarawak based companies.
c. How many contracts have been awarded to the local companies
(Sarawak based companies) and how many awarded to non-local companies
(non-Sarawak based companies) during last 3 years (2008, 2009, 2010)?
Please also state the scale of the contract in monetary term.

2. To ask the Minister of Infrastructure Development and
Communications (written answer):

There is heavy traffic congestion particularly at Jalan Pujut 7 to
Desa Pujut and Tudan Road every day.
a. When will the Pujut 7 bridge and road expansion project be
completed?
b. Is there any plan for upgrading the Tudan Road? If yes, please
state the project commencement date. If no, please state why?
c. Is there any road development project for the Padang Kerbau bypass
where traffic flow can be directed from Pujut 7? If yes, when will the
project commence. If no please state why?


3. To ask the Chief Minister (written answer):

Chinese medium schools in Bandar Miri are over-packed. There is an
urgent need to build at least TWO Chinese medium primary schools in
the down town area.
a. Could a portion of the empty land near Boulevard Commercial Centre
(now used by JKR) be allocated for the construction of a new Chinese
medium primary school in that area? If the answer is in the negative,
please state why?
c. There is a plan for re-allocation of SJK (C) North Miri and a piece
of land also has been allocated for the school. When will the land
tittle be issued to the school?

4. To ask the Minister of Housing (oral answer):

The squatter problem has become more serious in recent years in Miri.
In year 2000, many squatters in Canada Hill were resettled in the
Tudan area. However, there are still many empty lots in phase 6 Tudan
after the re-allocation.
a. In the Phase 6 Tudan or other resettlement area, how many empty
lots are still available which have not been given out since the last
allocation?
b. Is there any plan for a re-allocation scheme for those illegal
squatter kampongs in Bandar Miri in the near future? If no, please
state the reason.

5. To ask the Minister of Housing (written answer):

On low cost housing development plan in Bandar Miri.
Is there going to be a low cost housing development project in Miri?
Where will the project be located? What are the commencement and
completion dates? How much does it cost for a unit of the house?

6. To ask the Minister of Tourism (oral answer):

Miri is a resort city, so called a city for tourism. However, there is
insufficient tour guides
for the tourism industry in Miri.
a. Can the state government provide incentives to the local colleges
or Curtin University in Miri in order to encourage them to conduct
tour guides training courses?
b. If cannot, please state the reason?

7. To ask the Minister of Public Utilities (written answer):

After getting power supply from Bakun Dam, so many power failures have
occurred last few months in Miri.
a. What is the consumption (how many megawatts) of the electricity in
Miri City?
b. What is the capacity of the SESCo power plant in Pujut 1, Miri, the
volume and cost of gas required for the said SESCo power plant.
c. What measures will be implemented to reduce damage from power
failure in Miri.

8. To ask the Minister of Resource Planning & Environment (written
answer):

Several Dams are being built or going to be built in Ulu Baram. There
are issues raised on the costs and safety of the dams, the ecological
damage to the vast area of tropical rainforests and the relocation of
thousands of indigenous people who all depend on the forests for their
living.
a. State the number of dams to be built in Ulu Baram, the costs
involved, the exact locations, and how they will benefit Sarawak.
b. Were there be open tenders for these dams construction projects? If
yes, please list companies that have tendered and the reason for
choosing the Company which tendered successfully?
c. How and to where will the people in the area affected by the dam
projects be relocated and compensated for losing their lands?
d. What measures will be taken to minimize the damage and loss in the
event of the dams collapse in order to assure all the Sarawakians that
the government is prepared for all possibilities. Please
also state how much is the estimated loss and damage in the event of
these dams collapse.

9. To ask the Minister of Welfare, Women & Family Development (written
answer):

On divorced and single mothers in Miri who have difficulties in
looking after their children or to compete at the same platform for
job opportunities and earning capacity.
a. Please state how many registered women societies are there in Miri,
which can lend assistance to single mothers?
b. Has there been plan and fund allocated to build service or training
centres and child care centres for single mothers in Miri in order to
assist them to stand a fair chance in job opportunities in the society
and offer them support? If no, please state the reason(s).
c. How will the state government help single mothers who intend to
start small business in
Miri?

10. To ask the Chief Minister and/or the Minister of Local Government
& Community Development (written answer):

On Miri Hospital
a. How much fund is allocated or costs incurred in average per year
for Miri Hospital in the past three (3) years?
b. What is the ratio of doctor to the number of people in Miri as at
todate?
c. When will Miri Hospital be upgraded to tertiary level and whether
there will be more Miri based specialists to be stationed therein in
near future? If there is no plan yet, please state the reasons.

FPT Questions submitted to Dun Sarawak in June 2011

1. To ask the Minister of Land Development (oral answer):

a. How many land titles in Bandar Miri, Limbang and Lawas are going to expire in the next 5 years (by the end of December, 2016)?
b. How many are going to expire in the following 5 years (from January 1st 2017 to the end of 2021) in the towns mentioned above?
c. Up to the end of May, how many land owners in Bandar Miri, Limbang and Lawas have applied for land renewal and how many applications have been approved?
d. Some bandar Miri landowners have paid for renewal premium for their land titles before 516 Sibu by-election last year, and since the Sarawak government has promised all Sarawakian landowners during the Sibu by election on 16th May, 2010 a 50% discount on the renewal fee. How many landowners have had their reimbursement? How were the payments being made?



2. To ask the Minister of industrial development and / or chief Minister (oral answer).

Job in oil and gas sector for the local people is very limited in recently years in Miri. There are a lot of peninsula Malaysians or even foreigner working in our oil & gas corporations in Miri. Moreover, business opportunity in Oil & Gas industries also become very less.

a. how many workers / staffs are working in Shell and Petronas Company in Miri offshore and onshore?

b. how many of them are Sarawakians?

c. how many contracts have been awarded to the local companies (Sarawak base companies) and how many awarded to non-local companies (non-Sarawak base companies) during last 3 years (2008, 2009, 2010)? Please also state the scale of the contract in monetary term.


3. To ask the Minister of infrastructure Development and Communications (oral answer).



Almost every day for a long time in bandar Miri, there is heavy traffic congestion, particularly at Pujut Road 7 to Desa Pujut and Tudan Road.

a. For months, there have been frequently interrupted road reconstruction works going on and off on Pujut 7 Road. All this traffic congestion and irregular work is causing much inconvenience to busy Mirians who use the roads. When, based on the work agreement, did the road reconstruction start and when will they be completed?
b. Is there any upgrade plan for the Tudan Road? If yes, when is the road development project going to start?
c. The Padang Kerbau bypass road has been talked about by the BN YBs a long time ago. Is there any road development project for the Padang Kerbau bypass? If yes, please state when is the project going to start and going to complete?



4. To ask the chief Minister and / or the Minister of Land Development (oral answer).

The Pujut and Piasau constituencies have a lot of Chinese as well as other races who are keen to study in Chinese medium schools. The present Chinese medium schools in these constituencies have over-packed classes. There is an urgent need to build an additional Chinese medium primary school in the vast area.

a. Could a piece of land be allocated for the construction of a new Chinese medium primary school in these areas, please?
b. If could not, please state why?


5. To ask the chief Minister and / or the Minister of Land Development (oral answer).

The several hawker centres in Miri are either too small or too old, or both. With the increasing number of the hawkers, there is no room for occupying the new hawkers, beside there is no enough parking spaces for the centre market in down town Miri. Also, no hawker centre in Senadin area until now, as the number of housing and population in this area is getting higher and higher in recent years.

a. Could a piece of land to be allocated to construct a new hawkers centre in Miri down town area as well as a piece of land in Senadin area?
b. if cannot, please state why?

6. To ask the Minister of Housing and Urban Development and/or Minister of Land Development (oral answer):

The squatter problem has become more serious in recent years in Miri. In 2000, many squatters in Canada Hill were resettled in the Tudan area.

a. In the Tudan resettlement area, how many empty lots are still available which have not been given out since the last allocation?
b. How many squatter kampongs / colonies are there in Bandar Miri? How many squatter homes are in these kampongs?
c. How many applications have been received by the respective relevant departments from those kampong folks who have applied for reallocation for so many years?
d. Is there any present plan for a re-allocation scheme for those illegal squatter kampongs in Bandar Miri in the near future?



7. To ask the Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication (oral answer).

The Tudan residential area is a long distance from Miri and bus transportation is very important for the low income people there. Presently, there is a bus service plying between Miri and Tudan but the bus fare is too unreasonably high at RM 6 for two ways. Buses are often very much over-packed with students in the early morning. Moreover, residents stranded just to catch a bus and the waiting time for them is often infrequent.

a. Any implement plan by the state government to improve the public transportation in Miri?

b. If no. Is there any ongoing plan by the state government to provide incentives for good customer service such as subsidies to bus companies to improve their service to the public?


8. To ask the Minister of Tourism and Heritage (oral answer):

Every country, including Malaysia recognises the importance of tourism as a major foreign income earning industry. In Miri, there are various tourism needs to improve this industry. One of the most pressing needs presently is having more capable local tour guides who are well-trained and qualified to professionally conduct tours and handle tourists. Furthermore, there are no courses for tour guide provided by local colleges or Curtin University in Miri.

a. Is there any incentives to be given to the local colleges and the University in Miri in order to encourage them to conduct the courses?

b. If no, can the state government provide incentives to the colleges and the University in Miri?

9. To ask the Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication (oral answer):

For a long time, there are no well-developed smooth roads in many parts of Sarawak.

a. The development of a Miri Road to and from Marudi is urgently needed. Especially for those who have to come from these small rural towns to Bandar Miri for critical medical treatment. (i)Therefore, is there a plan for the development of such a road to link Miri and Marudi? (ii) If yes, when will the project be implemented? (iii) If no, please explain why not.

b. For a long, long time, the 30-year-old Labok Road which is a very poorly built and maintained muddy-prone road links Labok with Long Lama. It is only 36 km short! In 2009, a hefty RM150 million was allocated for the construction and development of this road, followed by another RM100 million in 2010. When will this road be properly tarred and sealed and be a complete standard road?

c. Ulu Baram in Miri comprises of many kampongs and longhouses all over the vast area. Many, in fact, most of these kampongs and longhouses lack many basic amenities and other necessities. One of these necessities is proper tar roads that will not become muddy and be flooded. Is there any plan to develop such proper roads for the rural Miri folks?

10. To ask the Minister of Planning and Resource Management:
Safe clean water for drinking, washing, bathing and other uses is a basic human right and necessity for everyone. Pollution of water resources, due to deforestation and over development of land is occurring in many places in Sarawak.

a. How many water catchment areas are there in Sarawak?
b. Please state their locations and their sizes.
c. How many of them have been gazetted?