KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu is currently in the process of applying good town planning practices, said Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir.
In rebutting the claim by an American visitor that the city lacked proper planning, Abidin said the relevant state government agencies had taken into consideration the most critical town planning matters in order to mitigate and solve the issues highlighted by Alan Borer in The Borneo Post on September 18.
“There are several latest planning documents which are inclusive of the KK Local Plan 2020 Draft; the City and Corridor Transformation Program by Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA), the on-going study of the Integrated Public Transport Master Plan and of the KK Sewerage Master Plan by the Public Works Department (PWD), and the on-going study of the KK City Drainage Master Plan by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID).
“Most of these master plans will guide Kota Kinabalu City Hall, the state government, and federal government to come to a consensus decision which will be transformed into our next 11th Malaysian Plan (11MP) so that the government can allocate adequate funding for the implementation of the relevant plans,” Abidin told the Borneo Post yesterday.
Firstly addressing and responding to Borer’s opinion that the development of new projects at the city centre would worsen traffic conditions, Abidin replied that all the ideas to handle the matter were integrated within the KK Public Transport Master Plan.
“Generally, the improvement plan outlined the need to build four integrated bus terminals, namely the Central Terminal which is in the central business district (CBD), Northern Bus Terminal at Inanam, Southern Bus Terminal in Kepayan near the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), and the Eastern Bus Terminal in Penampang.
“This will also include improvements to the routing networks which will cover all the areas between the four terminals,” explained Abidin.
He added that the Central Terminal was currently undergoing works expected to be completed in two years’ time, while the Southern is in the midst of having the design finalised and is expected to be completed in three years’ time.
The Northern Terminal, he said further, had had its design completed where work would commence once funding by the federal government was obtained, while the Eastern Terminal is under the jurisdiction of the Penampang council, albeit similar funding reference to the federal government for action.
City Hall has also been looking at a rail-based public transport system in its Long Term Public Transport Planning. The Kota Kinabalu Public Transport Master Plan was established in 2006 and had further been improved in 2012, stressed Abidin.
Abidin said City Hall had also come up with its KK City Master Traffic Management Plan that would look at the overall traffic flow improvement of the city centre, to address the traffic generation caused by developments as claimed by Borer.
“This plan covers the point from the coastal road junction at Sutera Harbour up to Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen junction with Jalan Istiadat to Likas Complex. We are in the process of looking at the funding mechanism that is partly to be contributed by the developments,” he said.
Abidin also explained that Borer’s suggestion to extend the existing railway system from its current last station at Tanjung Aru to the Wawasan Bus Terminal, had also been taken into account when establishing City Hall’s Public Transport Master Plan.
“The last train station will be connected with the proposed Southern Bus Terminal in Kepayan, near KKIA, where City Bus service will be available to shuttle to the city, Northern Terminal, as well as to the Eastern Terminal.
“Furthermore, it doesn’t help much on the shifting of commuters taking the existing train service to KK as the service only plies four times in the day from Papar and interiors to KK,” he said.
On the issue of the cutting of trees along Gaya Street, Abidin said the decision was made to solve problems caused or could be caused by the liberal growth of trees in the area, including risks of broken branches falling atop parked vehicles and building roofs, and rampant bird droppings.
Abidin also said a meeting held on December 12, 2013 to discuss matters pertaining to the cutting of the trees included relevant departments and agencies, namely Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Wildlife Department, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Sabah Health Department, and City Hall, which resulted in an agreement to take the action.