KAPIT: Acting on numerous complaints about the long delay on the part of the contractor to improve the local sports field, Bukit Goram assemblyman Jefferson Jamit Unyat has visited the place intending to get a first-hand look at it.
However, the assemblyman and those who accompanied him were unable to enter the field as the gate was locked from inside.
Still, they could clearly see from outside the chain-link fence that the whole field was in a mess with tall grass and creepers growing here and there.
Actually, Jamit visited the field sometime in August last year to see the progress of the project.
It turned out that the first sub-contractor failed to work on the field after two or three months and had to be replaced after Jamit’s visit.
Everybody was hopeful that the new sub-contractor could do the job but the change came to naught too. After one or two months, the sub-contractor, his machines and workers were nowhere to be seen.
There is no notification of the status of the field now after having been left unattended for about two months. Bushes and grass are beginning to overtake the field, turning it into an eyesore.
With no other field available in town, almost all local schools have been unable to carry out outdoor co-curricular activities such as track and field sports and football training.
The field was closed sometime in March last year to enable the contractor to work on it and complete the job by the end of the year. Due to that, locals have been walking or jogging along the nearby road after office hours or early in the morning.
After his visit, Jamit was disappointed that the work had been delayed for so long. He was puzzled as to why the contractor or sub-contractor just abandoned the project.
While hoping that the contractor would do the work properly, he called on the relevant government authority to take immediate remedial action to revive the project.
“I am deeply concerned by the abandonment of the project. We don’t know when it would be completed. It is a big inconvenience because people have nowhere to do physical exercise or play games,” said Jamit.
“Over the past month, I have received numerous complaints about the field from many frustrated people. Thus I appeal to the relevant authority to get the project completed.”
He then mentioned that he had brought up to the government a proposal to build another sports field here because every day after work a huge crowd of people always gathered at the exisiting field for their daily exercise.
He was accompanied during the brief visit to the field by his assistants Douglas Jamit and Cochran Amos, Councillor Liew Hui Hia, Councillor George Tang, Pemanca Yong Thu Fook, Penghulu Sia Shui Poh, and Penghulu Wong Kie Ing.
