Sabah in dire need for wider triple-lane roads to connect KK to major towns

By Jalibin Paidi of STAR Ranau
RANAU :  The in-coming Federal Government must allocate more funds for a better and wider roads in Sabah, including all roads that connect the state capital Kota Kinabalu and the other major towns like Sandakan, Tawau, Keningau and Kudat.

Time and again we saw a mere landslip on our small double-lane roads would cripple traffic for days just like the one that happened very recently in Ranau. Virtually all traffic from Ranau, Sandakan, Tawau and Lahad Datu to the state capital were halted for very long hours.

So much time and resources were spent and spoiled because we don't have good and wider roads, all after 49 years of independence !

Our transportation would have been smoother if we have wider and triple-lane roads everywhere. The State Reform Party (Star) is of the opinion that by now we should have at least double-lane or triple-lane roads for Kota Kinabalu (KK)-Ranau-Sandakan-Tawau; KK-Tuaran-Kota Belud-Kudat; KK-Tambunan-Keningau; KK-Papar-Beaufort-Sipitang; and the Keningau-Kalabakan-Tawau.

It is now a common sight that during peak hours the KK exit roads would be very jammed. The KK-Kudat road would be jammed up to Tuaran, and so is the KK-Beaufort is jammed up to Papar at peak hours !

A better mode of public transportation including the introduction of LRT and more efficient railway must be brought by now to Sabah. We failed to understand why the UMNO-led Federal Government had conveniently neglected our needs for good and wider roads. They are building highways after highways Peninsular but they don't even give us a triple-lane roads within the KK city.

Can we not say that we are being sabotaged ? A shift in priority from Peninsular to East Malaysia must be introduced by the incoming Federal Government if it wants to stay beyond its five years term at the coming general election.

For this we challenge both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat to offer East Malaysia a better comprehensive deals, including on infrastructures like roads, in their respective manifesto. If they failed to do so, it means this nation has failed.