KUCHING: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) has recorded the highest number of properties amongst all the local authorities in Sarawak.
Its chairman Lo Khere Chiang said as of Oct 1 this year, there are 73,001 properties in MPP and 91 percent are residential properties.
“From 2017 to this year, the growth rate of development of properties in the MPP area is about 3.5 per annum or approximately 2,300 new properties per year,” he said during the council’s 24th anniversary celebration and the launching of the Last Ring Ladies Mural at Kota Padawan Mall on Monday (Dec 14).
He said the council estimated that there will be at least 73,500 properties by the end of this year.
“Many towns and bazaars have seen rapid development in the last 20 years. We can see this in areas such as Batu Kawah New Township, Kota Sentosa, Jalan Matang, Jalan Batu Kawa and others.
“Whereas the number of holdings has increased tremendously, from 21,000 in 1996 to 73,001 as of Oct 1 this year,” he said.
On infrastructure development, he said from 2016 to this year, MPP has implemented a total of 375 projects totalling RM82.8 million and the breakdown in terms of category and total project costs are as follows — RM15.2 million for capital development projects, RM35.8 million for Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) projects and RM 31.8 million for Projek Rakyat (people’s project).
“Last year, MPP implemented 130 projects and as of Nov this year, MPP has implemented 95 projects,” he said.
He said MPP has always been busy maintaining the roads and drains.
The roads in housing estates have been upgraded and most roads in the villages have been tar-sealed.
“Nowadays, the requests from the residents have changed from upgrading gravel roads to tar-sealed roads to resurfacing existing tar-sealed roads and requests for street lights. Development projects have expanded to include construction of bridges, surau and churches,” he said.
He added that other developments are the construction of community markets and hawker centres, upgrading of village libraries to digital community centres, installation of safety rails, guard rails and cat eyes for safety measures, as well as maintenance of parks and greens.
“Improving road infrastructure, particularly the drains, remains a top priority for the council which includes Puncak Borneo and Matang with a projected cost of RM800 million,” he said adding that the council together with the minister shall seek and pursue more grants in order to improve the infrastructure of roads and drains.
“MPP has also gone beyond the role of providing municipal services. The council managed to obtain a grant to help repair 31 houses for the poor this year.
“A direct result of this initiative is the improved safety and better living conditions for the residents. From 2016 to this year, the council has already repaired 114 houses under the Urban Poverty Eradication programme,” he said.
He said under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and as a caring government, each assemblyman under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) since 2019 is allocated RM1 million worth of fund to do house repairs for the poor in their constituencies.
“In line with the mission of MPP to advance the quality of life by providing efficient municipal services, the council through the leadership and determination of Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, managed to obtain a grant for a few people’s project in the MPP area,” he said.
He said there are projects which included completed ones, in progress and in planning which covers a total cost of RM31.8 million.
