Chin (third right) presenting a gift to ASP Sylvester during the courtesy call.
KOTA KINABALU: Twenty-one traffic policemen have been assigned to monitor the traffic condition in the Kota Kinabalu area.
They are divided into three shifts with seven persons in each shift, ASP Sylvester Sigoh disclosed this to Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Public Complaint Bureau chairman Ir Chin Shu Ying during a courtesy at the Kota Kinabalu Traffic Police Section yesterday.
Slyvester also informed that his section only has a staff strength of 69 and clearly this is greatly insufficient for a big city like Kota Kinabalu.
To effectively monitor and help to ease the traffic congestion problem in Kota Kinabalu, he said the traffic section would need at least 45 persons with 15 persons on duty at each shift.
In the meeting, both parties agreed that some of the most congested areas in Kota Kinabalu are caused by the slow traffic when crossing the uneven expansion joint portion at the several bridges along the highway.
This has created bottleneck problem and caused traffic congestion at several areas like Kolombong and Kingfisher Park area.
Too many traffic lights in a short distance and the unsynchronized timing of the traffic lights are also one of the problems, especially at Likas and town centre area.
LDP welcomes the announcement by the Public Works Department (PWD) recently that the three flyovers in Kota Kinabalu area will commence next year.
“We hope the project will be awarded to capable contractors which can complete the projects on schedule,” said Chin who is also LDP vice president and Likas Division chairman, in a statement yesterday.
Before the commencement of the projects, he said the PWD also need to discuss with all the stakeholders on how to minimize the impact caused by the construction works of the flyovers.
If this is not done, surely it will worsen the present traffic congestion problems in Kota Kinabalu.
The Kota Kinabalu City Hall and PWD also need to look into the implementation of the one-way traffic plan at the city centre soonest possible to resolve the congestion problems at the city centre, he added.
Chin also said the bus terminals in Inanam, Kapayan and Penampang also need to be constructed and completed soonest possible to resolve the present public transportation problems.
“The Kota Kinabalu Traffic Master Plan should not become only a dream but should be implemented and put in place immediately.
It is the responsibility of the authorities and officers concerned to ensure they walk their talk so as not to continue to disappoint the people,” he pointed out.
Chin said the special committee on traffic congestion set up by the state government must play a more active role in engaging the various parties to ensure short-term and long-term solutions are in place and implemented effectively.
“The committee should hold meeting once a month to monitor the situation. They should also invite stakeholders and interested parties to participate in the meeting to give ideas and suggestions besides giving their views as road users.”
During the meeting, Chin officially requested Sylvester to station traffic police at the few important junctions at the school area in Likas during the peak hours on the first week of the school opening from Jan 5.
This is in view of the extra heavy traffic condition at that area during the school opening.
Sylvester informed that they have already taken note of the situation and will definitely station some traffic police there to help ease the traffic problem.