Lai shows an artist impression of the approved UTC Miri.
MIRI: The federal government has given its approval Tuesday for the setting up of a full-fledged Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) here to serve people in northern Sarawak and Brunei.
Mayor of Miri City Council (MCC) Lawrence Lai said the centre could provide the public with frequently sought-after government services outside normal working hours such as renewal of driving licence, road tax, bill payment, passport application and renewal, issuance of identity cards and postal services.
The centre will be located at the MCC’s One-Stop Centre on the ground floor, level 1, 2, and 5 of the its multi-storey carpark.
“Renovation works on the project will start in October and UTC Miri is scheduled to be operational in January next year – a New Year gift from the federal government to the people. It will operate from 8am to 9pm daily and closed on public holidays.
“On behalf of the people I thank the federal government for the project which is in line with the People-First-Performance-Now,” Lai told reporters yesterday.
He added that services proposed to be held at Level 1 of the UTC Miri, would be the state and federal agencies including the police, National Registration, MCC, Road Transport Department, Income Tax, National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), 1Malaysia Clinic and Child Care Centre. The Immigration Department will occupy Level 2.
Level 5 will be occupied by Youth and Sports Complex with multipurpose courts (badminton – 3, basketball – 1, futsal – 1) a fitness studio, gym, cyber centre and area for indoor games, while Level 3 and 4 and part of Level 5 are for parking.
In the meantime, the multi-storey car park is still open until further notice. The sale of seasonal passes will soon cease.
The MCC one-stop centre is also open this week until the first week of October to enable people to pay their assessment rates and other bills. It will be closed for renovation after that. The paying of assessment rates and other bills will be temporarily placed at the treasury section.
Lai also said the overhead bridge, the gateway to the UTC from the old town, would also be redesigned to incorporate some cultural elements.