KUCHING: The state government’s decision to revive the Kuching Samarahan light rail transit (LRT) project is most desirable and no one should politicise its implementation. “It is an issue of real needs,” said Kota Samarahan Municipal Council (MPKS)chairman Datuk Peter Minos yesterday.
“As I see it, if there is money for the LRT, why not? The sooner the better,” Minos said when contacted yesterday. “As MPKS chairman and speaking for the people of Samarahan, I fully support the Chief Minister’s decision,” Minos said, adding that the LRT was badly needed to connect Kota Samarahan to Kuching City. “ Kuching ’s p o p u l a t i o n i s approaching one million and Samarahan is over 200,000 and fast increasing.
The people must be given better means of communication on top of the roads which are full of vehicles during peak hours. The LRT is a good alternative,” he pointed out. Citing Kuala Lumpur, which was connected by LRT to small towns like Kajang, Klang, Seremban and Rawang, Minos added: “LRT travelling saves time and money. It is convenient and reliable. “Besides, I live in Kota Samarahan and I know.”
Echoing Minos’ sentiment, political analyst and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Associate Professor Dr Jeniri Amir said with the mushrooming of housing estates , growing population and the presence of institutions of higher learning such as Unimas and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Samarahan, the situation was getting worse.
“Imagine in 10 years’ time the number of cars and the number of housing estates will double. So do you want to do it now or later when the situation can get very serious?” he asked when contacted yesterday. “Better to do it now than later. Why should we care about people’s criticisms so much? “When he was prime minister for the first time, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was heavily criticised by the opposition, including those in the Democratic Action Party (DAP) who are in his government now, when he introduced the Kuching International Airport (KLIA), Putrajaya Administrative Centre, Petronas Twin Tower and the North South Highway projects.
“Our Chief Minister is proactive and forward looking, he shouldn’t listen to the opposition. “As the Chief Minister who is very concerned about the well-being of the people, especially people like us who suffer because of the traffic jams, he need not listen to detractors. “Assuming you are caught in the traffic jams every day, two hours to and fro every day, multiply that by 5 days, it is 20 hours caught in the traffic jams every week,” he said.
“Imagine the stress and the petrol wasted. The way forward for Samarahan is to have modern transportation,” Jeniri said. “I am staying in Petra Jaya and work in Samarahan and I have to leave the house as early as at 5.45am to ensure that I am not caught in the jam,” he said. “Everyday, I observe the terrible traffic jams morning and evening. From Unimas to my home in Petra Jaya, it takes one and half hour and from Unimas to Viva City, it takes one hour.” Jeniri said he had heard of students who were caught in the traffic jam from Unimas to Kuching International Airport for two hours. “Yesterday, my friend took two hours to travel from Unimas to his home in Petra Jaya,” he added.
