KUCHING: South Kuching City Council (MBKS) traffic wardens will be added to deal with heavy congestion, said Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
He said, additional traffic wardens are necessary due to the constraints of MBKS which only has six traffic wardens and six traffic motorcycles.
Dr Sim said the initiative to add more wardens could help traffic flow smoothly especially in the city centre and the road leading to Kota Samarahan.
“I asked MBKS Mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng to help the police by placing traffic wardens at the roundabout along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway, to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours.
“This is in response to public complaints about serious traffic congestion due to the construction of traffic light intersections at five roundabouts,” he said.
Dr Sim, who is Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, was speaking at a community programme in conjunction with the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations at the KMC Flat multipurpose hall in Padungan, here this morning (Jan 18).
He said such situations are inevitable when it comes to any road construction or upgrading, thus having more traffic wardens can help ease traffic.
Agreeing with Dr Sim, Wee also said the congestion at the Tabuan Tranquility roundabout is unavoidable as it involved upgrading works.
“No one wants to be stuck for hours on the road, nor do we want to be scolded for not performing our duties for the community.
“In this regard, we could not avoid the traffic congestion at Tabuan Tranquility due to the construction works.
“This project needs to be done for the future of road users along this route. So, I appeal to everyone to be patient and understand the situation,” he said.
At the same time, Wee revealed that MBKS is responsible for helping the Public Works Department (PWD) and its contractors by placing a traffic warden at the site.
“Thus, contractors need to do their job well by having proper traffic management to reduce traffic jams and not rely solely on local authorities,” he said.
