Chong dares Lo to step down as MPP chairman over traffic congestion woes
KUCHING: Step down and let me do your job for you!
This is the message from state Democratic Action Party ( DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen to Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang over the latter’s failure to address traffic congestion at 7th Mile.
At a news conference yesterday, Chong said he was giving Lo a week’s time to clear his office so that he could take over from him to improve the traffic situation at the area. He said there was no point for Lo to hold on to the post when the latter could not fulfil his duty to serve the community.
Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, issued the demand following Lo’s recent challenge to him.
Of late, Lo claimed that Chong had failed the people of Kota Sentosa by not finding any solution to the ‘messy traffic issue’ in 7th Mile which had been occurring even before Lo was appointed as MPP chairman and elected as Batu Kitang assemblyman.
Lo has been the MPP chairman since 2010 and was elected the Batu Kitang assemblyman in May 2016. He said Chong should volunteer to have a salary cut since he had not done much for the community in Kota Sentosa.
To this, Chong said he was willing to take up the challenge by taking over the chairmanship from Lo, without getting the salary while Lo could decide for himself whether to continue to be paid.
“Since Lo cannot do his job and has the nerve to push the duty to an assemblyman, I do not mind doing the job for him without getting pay.
“I will make myself available at MPP by 10am next Monday (Jan 29) to take over his job. I hope he will be ready to hand over the duty,” Chong stressed.
He said Lo had about a week to clear his stuff and tender his resignation to the state government.
He said MPP had the obligation to improve the traffic flow in Mile 7 given that the council had been collecting assessment rates from the people there.
According to Chong, MPP collects millions of ringgit in assessment rates, entertainment fees and licence fees besides getting annual allocations from both the federal and state governments.
“Managing and improving traffic within its jurisdiction is one of the jobs of MPP, and has nothing to do with the duty of an assemblyman. By pushing the obligation to me, Lo is admitting outright that he is not capable of delivering the job. Lo should not be sitting on the position while pointing a finger at others, asking others to do his job for him.
“I gladly accept his challenge and I hope he will hand over the duty to me by Monday (Jan 29),” he said.
He was also dismayed at Lo for accusing him of not contributing constructive ideas to address the ‘messy traffic issue’.
Chong said he had led a group of complainants to see Lo at the MPP Building for a solution to the same issue on Jan 6, 2014. He recalled that Lo even declined his request to have the complainants sit in the discussion which was followed by a presentation on the first phase of Proposed Improvement of Traffic Circulation at Kota Sentosa commercial area.
“That was early 2014 and it is now 2018. At that time, Lo said MPP had proposed improvement for traffic circulation and after four years, nothing seems to have been done.”