Floods are acts of God, but flood losses are largely acts of man.
— Gilbert White, American geographer
Dudong’s newly-minted state assemblyman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing is a new broom that sweeps well.
I will be fair and give credit where it’s due. Tiong has been up and about in his new constituency in Sibu since he won the seat on Dec 18.
Being an elected representative is nothing new to the PDP president. Tiong is the long-serving Bintulu MP and he knows how things work and how YBs should play their game.
Surprisingly, it is his new job as the state rep for Dudong that Tiong seems more passionate about of late. Perhaps, it is because Sibu is his hometown and he has sentimental reasons for wanting to resolve some long-standing issues affecting the livelihood of the Sibu people as quickly as possible.
Such efforts should be applauded.
I will avoid talking politics in this article but will concentrate on the flood woes of Sibu which, I think, should be a priority over politics.
If I were to bring up Tiong’s candidature in Dudong (in the recent Sarawak election) at the expense of a SUPP candidate, it will open a can of worms. So, I will leave it to another day to discuss that contentious issue.
For now, let there be peace, politically at least, in Sibu as all the four to five legislative assembly seats are now back in the GPS fold.
I would like to see all the winners work together for the common good of the Sibu community and for further progress and development of central Sarawak.
I believe Sibu will benefit in terms of greater allocation of development funds over the next five years. Something must be wrong if Sibu remains stagnant when all its YBs (except Bawan Assan) are in the government.
In early January, I was glad to hear Tiong ticking off the authorities over the water problems troubling the people.
In a lengthy Facebook post on Jan 5, he took exception to the many excuses he was given for delays in project implementation.
Emphasising that stable water supply is one of the most important requirements of the people, the Dudong YB said the authorities must complete works within the deadline even if they need to work overnight.
Towards this end, Tiong requested the authorities to complete the Sibu Jaya/Kanowit Phase 2 project within two months instead of the originally scheduled three months to alleviate the issue of insufficient water pressure in Sibu Jaya and Salim.
Well said, Datuk Tiong. When YBs make noise on behalf of the people, they will get my support. I recall giving a thumbs-up to the Dudong rep in the social media on this episode.
I must have written many times in the past of my soft spot for Sibu too and how I had spent several good years working there as a young journalist and editor in the early 80’s.
Of course, I also remember the number of floods I had to endure too while in Sibu. When it floods in Sibu, even the main thoroughfare of the town is affected.
On Sunday, Feb 20, Tiong had some good news for the people of Sibu. He revealed that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg had expressed concern over the frequent floods in Sibu and urged for the issue to be resolved immediately.
I just love to hear the term “resolved immediately”. That would be a tall order indeed. However, if efforts are being made continuously to mitigate the floods, it would already be a job well done. Just do not abandon the mitigation plans.
According to Tiong, the chief minister also hoped that the flood problems in Sibu would be resolved in stages over the next four years so that the people in the affected areas would not have to live in fear and anxiety anymore.
The Dudong rep said the chief minister would be visiting Sibu soon and meet the Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) on the proposed projects to overcome the flood problem in Sibu.
Among the plans being floated are a number of allocations to fund maintenance projects in the affected areas to prevent frequent and severe floods.
“The allocations also include upgrading and maintenance works for the drainage systems, which are a factor in the occurrence of floods in the affected areas,” Tiong said.
As in all development funds, the main concern is its wanton abuse – often, most of the allocations are siphoned off somewhere.
In many cases, our government YBs can do an excellent job in fighting for the allocations, only to have it abused and gone missing along the way.
Please, do not let this happen in this project to resolve the flood woes in Sibu. Or in any future people-oriented projects in Sarawak.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
