KUCHING: Mayor of Kuching City South Council (MBKS) James Chan rubbished claims that the council spent RM7.5 million to cut down 300 trees along Jalan Tun Jugah here.
Chan yesterday denied the allegations by DAP Sarawak secretary Chong Chieng Jen, saying that MBKS did not even have “that kind of money” to pay anybody.
“If MBKS has RM7.5 million, I would be able to build a better Kuching South,” he said when met by reporters after a Story Telling Competition here yesterday.
“I’ve been looking for that money. I keep on dreaming of it but it never comes to me. And if I don’t have money, I don’t know how I can pay it out to people,” he quipped. According to Chan, there was no way MBKS would have RM7.5 million to pay for the tree cutting project because the council was audited every year by internal and government auditors.
“We are very transparent and very accountable. We are trying to be as efficient and effective so that we have the budget to last us for the whole year,” he said further.
He also explained that the trees had to be removed, not only for Jalan Song-Jalan Tun Jugah flyover project, but also for safety reasons.
“Those trees were cut for a reason and not necessarily for the project. The cutting of the trees, as I have always said, was more of a preventive measure.
“Yes, it might have been planted a long time ago but those Angsana trees were already very brittle,” he stressed.
Chan cautioned that if the trees were not removed along the 2.1 km stretch of Jalan Tun Jugah, they might cause accidents, especially during strong winds and thunderstorms.
“If those trees are there and if accidents happen, who will bear the responsibility? When MBKS take preventive measures, some people are not happy and I don’t know why.
“What we do is all for the people and like the young YB (Chong) we are just trying to make sure that Kuching South prospers. We are not trying to be glamourous or champions,” he added.
Chan also said that he was disappointed that some quarters had wrongly accused him as having “agendas” behind his hard work.
“Some people also say that I’ve been working very hard these two and half years because I have some agendas. For goodness sake I am a mayor.
“I do my work by walking around so that I can see things, people can see me and I’m reachable to everybody,” he stressed.
Chong, who is also the Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, recently made claims that MBKS paid RM7.5 million or about RM25,000 per tree to fell 300 trees along Jalan Jugah.