8/13/2019 PressRelease-2013-Build Monorail Not Tram -15 December 2013

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PRESS STATEMENT

Build Monorail Not Tram Dr. Jeffrey

Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah government should build a new Monorail transport system in KotaKinabalu and not just sweet-talk the people with promises of building public transport systems toalleviate the growing and snarling traffic jams especially during rush-hours but with no concreteaction being taken said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief in response to the Minister ofIndustrial Developments statement of considering the building of trams for Kota Kinabalu during thecourtesy visit by the new Counsel and Vice-Counsels from China recently.

The Umno/BN government owes the people a social responsibility as the government of the day andas part of this responsibility, they need to address the social needs of the growing populationespecially in Kota Kinabalu.

This responsibility is not better said than by the Chief Minister himself who last week said that thegovernment will make all cities in Sabah liveable cities. And all growing cities need to solve theever-present traffic congestion problems.

However, the Chief Minister and his government need to put words into action to make KotaKinabalu a more liveable city.

This is more so in the case of Sabah which is a world-renown tourist destination with a growing andthriving tourism industry with yearly increasing tourist arrivals. We should not be putting offforeign tourists from visiting Kota Kinabalu again due to bad traffic jams.

Building 2 or 3 more flyovers, although they are badly needed especially in Inanam and theintersections along Jalan Lintas in the city, may reduce traffic jams but they do not resolve theproblem long term.

What is n eeded for Kota Kinabalu is a good public transportation system! stressed Dr. Jeffrey.

A monorail public transport system is a proven system. If not, there is no reason for the federalgovernment to invest RM36 billion to build the Greater Klang Valley Monorail Transit System.

The Kota Kinabalu Monorail can link the Kota Kinabalu city centre to major centres in 1 Borneo,University Malaysia Sabah, KKIP, Karambunai Nexus and Sepanggar and back to Donggongon andPutatan and include stops at Likas Hospital, Museum, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the KotaKinabalu International Airport.

The construction and building of the Kota Kinabalu Monorail will create a further boost to the localeconomy. This economic vibrancy will also generate new employment and business opportunitiesand at the same time transform Kota Kinabalu into a modern and progressive city.

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8/13/2019 PressRelease-2013-Build Monorail Not Tram -15 December 2013

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Funding the Kota Kinabalu Monorail or KKMR should not be an issue.

If Putrajaya can finance RM36 billion for the Greater Klang Valley Monorail Transit, there is no reasonfor the federal government NOT to finance up to RM12 to RM15 billion to build the KKMR.

Sabah will be contributing an additional RM8.70 billion in oil and gas revenue to Petronas and thefederal government in 2014 increasing from RM17.88 billion in 2012 to RM26.60 billion in 2014. It isexpected that this oil and gas revenue will further increase to more than RM50 billion in 2015/2016.

If the federal government refuses to fund the KKMR, the Sabah MPs just need to take a simple stepto leave the Umno/BN coalition. By just leaving, the Umno/BN and the Pakatan Rakyat leaders willbe sending a VVIP delegation with a RM15 billion cheque to fund the KKMR to persuade the SabahMPs to join in a new federal government. That is the power of Sabah and Sarawak and the leaders

from Sabah should leverage on this for the benefit of our beloved Sabah Tanah Airku and not justallow our oil and gas to be siphoned anymore.

Datuk Dr. Jeffrey KitinganChairman, STAR Sabah15 December 2013