Penampang Member of Parliament Datuk Darell Leiking has urged Penampang District Officer Francis Chong to organise a dialogue with the public to allow them to raise questions on the new Penampang Local Plan.

This is probably the best method to connect and to get the community involved in making the New Local District Plan a success because the effort to reach to the community is currently only limited through notification via the District Council’s Facebook page, WhatsApp and a small banner located at the Sigah roundabout, he said.

Darell pointed out that according to the Town and Country Planning Ordinance (Sabah Cap 141) Part IA, 4D(1), before preparing a draft structure plan to be submitted by the minister to the State Cabinet, the director shall ensure that there is sufficient publicity given to the draft structure plan and shall allow any person or persons or other bodies affected by the draft structure plan to make representations and objections in respect thereof.

The Ordinance also said that the director shall consider the representations and objections and bring them to the attention of the Council.

Such representations and objections shall be made to the director within five weeks of such publications in the press and the draft structure plan referred to in section 4D(1) shall be published in three issues of at least two local newspapers, one of which being the national language disclosing where the copies of the plan can be made available for inspection, the Moyog assemblyman disclosed.

“We have sent an official letter and proposal to Francis so the committee can improvise the current local plan on the second of November and urging the District Officer to organize the public dialogue as soon as possible. Our office also made a courtesy call to Francis on November 5 led by my political secretary, Pritchard Gumbaris and I was made to understand that my office had urged for the public dialogue and is extremely necessary as the draft Penampang Local Plan will affect all residents and stakeholders at Penampang District,” said Darell.

The courtesy call was also attended by Penampang Council Executive Officer Robert Malangkig and Assistant District Officer Stanley Sikolis and the Penampang parliamentarian office was represented by lawyer Batholomew Jingulam and Dora Engchuan.

Darell said that suggestions were forwarded to incorporate a more comprehensive design study by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage into the proposed zoning plan to ensure that the recurring flood issues in most of the villages in Moyog areas, including Bundusan areas in Kepayan, are mitigated, tackled and resolved.

Francis was also urged to look into the impact on pollution, flood, traffic congestion and public services, especially where the industrial and residential zoning are located side by side.

The already congested Bundusan area is the best example to gauge the impact caused by the unorganized zoning, Darell opined.

According to him, the roundabout at Pavilion Bundusan is one example, where just several years ago, it hardly flooded but nowadays severe flash floods occur just after 30 minutes or more of heavy rainfall, causing damages to the nearby housing areas and commercial properties.

Suggestions were also made to identify areas for a designated public transportation hub and an updated road network study to tackle the ever increasing traffic congestion all over Penampang and also to take advantage of the Kota Kinabalu City Hall’s existing Northern and Southern Bus Terminals and to ensure Penampang can be part of the huge road connectivity between the two districts, he said.

“Other suggestions included identifying area for future academia centre, universities, colleges, hospital and cultural centers to be included into the local plan, to identify and gazette a green lung area for Penampang because it will act as a ‘sponge’ to control the flow of rainwater, to include a comprehensive drainage system for Pan Borneo highway.

“We have submitted about 15 proposals for improvement including the suggestion to organize a much needed public dialogue over the Penampang Draft Local Plan. The November 6 and 7 dialogues at Dewan Kg Ramayah and Dewan Kg Ganang were organized only for the Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK) and village head,” he said.

Darell said the dialogues with the JPKK/KK are not sufficient and do not include the public directly.

“Most of the issues are very technical hence we need professionals to answer each and every question and doubt raised by all the stakeholders. Meanwhile, we are glad that the public enquiries deadline has been extended by another two months which will end on 18th January 2022 instead of 18th November 2022. This will give Francis ample of time to organize public dialogues in all villages and urban areas,” stressed Darell.

The public, especially those affected land owners, are urged to check and to make complaints/objections if their lands are affected by the newly proposed Penampang Local Plan and this can be done through THE Penampang District Council official website or write directly to Francis.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by THE BORNEO POST

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