Press Statement By Abdul Aziz:
I am referring to the news published by See Hua Daily, dated 26th October 2021, page A5, paragraph 8 where Lo Khere Chiang was quoted saying, “The road section will be reopened in a week” and therefore “The traffic congestion problem will be alleviated”.
Firstly, since the news was published by the local Chinese newspaper on 26th October, this means that Lo had issued the statement on 25th October. From the time Lo issued the statement, it was expected that the traffic junctions at 6th Mile Jalan Penrissen will be reopened to the road users on 1st November. Today is 2nd November and during my site visit to the area, the situation remained the same.
Secondly, Lo had guaranteed the road users that the traffic congestion at 6th Mile Jalan Penrissen will be alleviated in a week. Unfortunately, during my site visit, the traffic congestion remained the same. Not much progress is done since 26th October until today. In fact, the traffic congestion has gone worse not just during peak hours but during off-peak hours as well. As I have expected at the very beginning, Lo’s statement will certainly contradict reality.
When I highlighted this issue on my Facebook page, dated 1st November 2021, Lo wrote on the comment section saying “I have equal opportunity to ask the contractor when he can deliver, the same opportunity that I have”. The link https://www.facebook.com/100044595992140/posts/428786035284593/?d=n I believe that Lo is very aware that such ‘equal opportunity’ claimed by him has never existed when it comes to opposition parties. It is a well-known fact that the contractor was appointed by the federal government through the Ministry of Works and therefore the contractor is accountable to the said ministry (the federal government) alone and not the public. Since Lo is part of the ruling party and his coalition is leading said ministry, therefore, it is expected that the contractor will be answerable to him and said ministry.
The opposition party tried many times to approach the main contractor especially the management team concerning the traffic management along Jalan Penrissen but to no avail. Every time we try to approach the main contractor, they will instruct the sub-contractors to deal with us. As an engineer by profession, Lo should understand that the sub-contractors are only accountable to the main contractor alone as they were appointed by the main contractors. Furthermore, the sub-contractors are not the decision-makers of the project. Thus, the lack of coorporation by the main contractor left the opposition party with no choice but to highlight this issue in the social media and the local newspapers. Does Lo still believe that ‘equal opportunity’ exists when it comes to the opposition party?
Lo went on by stating that ‘If I don’t blame PH, who should I blame?”. The issue here is the prolonged traffic congestion and it has nothing to do with the termination of the Project Delivery Partner (“PDP”). As I have said in my previous press statement dated 26th October 2021, paragraph 2, “The pertinent issue here is why the main contractor decided to temporarily close the traffic light junction at 6th Mile Jalan Penrissen when they should have completed the construction of the flyover first? Wouldn’t it be wise for the main contractor to complete the construction of the flyover before they decided to temporarily close the traffic light junction at 6th Mile Jalan Penrissen?”. This is not about who should be blamed and who should get the blame, this is about the decision made by the parties in-charge of the project.
As such, I would like to humbly advice my friendly political opponent, Lo, to stop blaming others and use his position as an elected state representatives to solve this issue immediately without resorting to rhetoric and political propaganda.
02-11-2021
Abdul Aziz Isa
Special Assistant to YB Chong Chieng Jen
DAP Batu Kitang Chairman
DAPSY Stampin Chief
