Sabah BN Govt owes an explanation

KOTA KINABALU, July 24, 2012: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) said the current State Barisan Nasional (BN) Government's haste to vacate the land where the Courthouse sits had raised doubts on the future of the area.

SAPP Information Chief Chong Pit Fah said the BN Government also must have a motive behind it and as such obliged to tell the stakeholders its future plan for the area.

He said the plan to move the Courthouse temporarily to Wisma Khidmat fuelled speculations that the Courthouse land might be developed into commercial entity.

Pit Fah said Wisma Khidmat is currently experiencing extensive renovation and to be converted it into a temporary Courthouse.

He said the haste to shift the Courthouse to Wisma Khidmat certainly raised doubts since the construction of the new permanent Courthouse at Bukit Punai has yet to take off.

He added that the State BN Government should also explain to the people where the funds to renovate the Wisma Khidmat come from.

"Is it came from the State coffers or the Federal coffers," Pit Fah asked adding the State BN Government ought to reveal it because public funds were involved.

"Under the Kota Kinabalu Draft Local Plan 2012-2020 the land where the current Courthouse sits had already been changed to commercial compared to previously when it was marked as government land.

"The status of the land, which currently housed the State Library, the Women and Children Clinic have also been similarly changed," he said.

Pit Fah said it seems that the current Sabah BN leaders are in haste to vacate the area in question and pave the way for mega commercial projects at those four pieces of lands.

He said the State Library have been vacated for some time now and the plan to move the Courthouse to its temporary site at Wisma Khidmat fuelled worries that high value government lands are being taken for commercial purposes.

He added that the decision to change those four pieces of land from government land into commercial areas as stated under the Kota Kinabalu Draft Local Plan 2012-2020 were carried out without the people's knowledge.

Pit Fah added that by right the State BN Government should consult the stake holders and get their feed backs before making such changes.

He said the State BN Government is also wasting public funds when the operations of the State Library have been moved to Suria Shopping Mall.

He added that the State BN Government have yet to tell the public how much funds have been drained out by renting spaces at the Suria Shopping Mall.

According to him, the State Library building has never been declared unsafe and yet its operations were moved to Suria Shopping Mall.

Pit Fah went on saying that the State BN Government must be spending millions of Ringgit of public funds in renovating the Wisma Khidmat, which previously house a supermarket and the Ministry of Agriculture.

He added that he and a team from SAPP had inspected the renovation works on Wisma Khidmat and found out that no signboard was erected.