SIBU: Dudong assemblyman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has received many complaints against certain Sibu Municipal Council (SMC)’s contractors through his service centre.
The complaints pertained to neglect of local drainage maintenance.
So Tiong recently went to Jalan Then Kung Suk here to better understand the situation.
To his dismay, he said, at a glance, it was painfully obvious how badly the drainage maintenance contractors had failed in their jobs.
“The locals also cannot remember when the last dredging work was carried out with the accumulation of so much mud, sediment, industrial waste and garbage in the drains.
“This is shocking and disgusting to say the least. There are even whole sections of fallen trees lying in the drains. Are the contractors really so blind to all these?.
“What is even more outrageous and disappointing is the way complainants are kicked around to various authorities for raising the problems with the drains. Some have even said they had been warned off by the contractors involved.
This is unacceptable as the rakyat are simply voicing their concerns and do not deserve to be told off,” the assemblyman pointed out in a press statement here today.
According to Tiong, who is also Bintulu MP, this was the first time he had ever encountered such unbearably poor quality service in all his years in politics.
He said his search for explanations from the representatives of the SMC and the contractor had revealed an even more unreasonable condition placed by the authority — the dredging was limited to only once a year.
This, he said, was an incredibly low amount of effort compared to how much work was actually needed to control the flow of water in the local drainage system for effective flood mitigation.
Any amount of heavy rain, Tiong pointed out, would result in overflowing drains and flooding, no matter how well built a flood mitigation system was. Lack of proper and regular maintenance would only result in more flooding.
He reasoned If the scope of the contractor’s responsibility was too large to effectively handle the maintenance and dredging work, the SMC should not simply ignore it. Instead, it should conduct reviews to find ways to improve the quality of service for the people.
He felt that the SMC should review the performance of the contractors, adding that if the contractors only dredged the drains once a year, it was a waste of public funds.
“The SMC and contractors’ excuses are just inexcusable; they cannot simply be allowed to treat the people’s issues so irresponsibly.
The contractors for the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) have to attend to the drainage every month to clear the drains and remove weeds.
” I do not understand why the SMC’s contractors need to clear it once a year. If the contractors’ scope of responsibility is too large to handle, why doesn’t the SMC rectify this?
“Contractors cannot take their work so lightly to think that the drains will take care of themselves. If a single contractor cannot handle the workload, the SMC should obviously appoint more contractors rather than allowing such poor performances to continue,” he said.
With so many small and medium-sized factories in this industrial town, the president of Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) felt that the SMC should have held dialogues with the owners on how to properly tackle industrial waste, garbage and sewage from their factories.
“As I have advised all civil servants in Sibu during the election period, it is time for you to wake up and do your work. You must feel shame for letting past complaints go unsolved.
It is time for a new way of working with clear responsibility and dedication to serving the people of Sibu,” Tiong added.
