EX- VILLAGE CHIEF QUESTIONS DELAYS IN VILLAGE APPOINTMENTS

 WED 13 Jan 2021

PENAMPANG.  A former village chief of Kg Terawi here questioned the new government delays in getting work done. Rollis Mitol said even grass at road shoulders leading to his village are so tall it blocks motorist view as they join the main road. "Are the authority concerned waiting for a fatal accident here before acting?" he queried. This could be due to the village administrative committee or JKKK and village chief are yet to be appointed since the new government took over three months ago, he said.

It does not matter who gets appointed but services to the communities must be the prime consideration, he stressed.

 

One former JKKK member shown pointing on tall grass wanted to volunteer cut the grass himself with own grass cutter,  however the others discouraged him since this good deed will never be appreciated by any government leaders, and moreover the JKR contractor appointed to do this work will claim his free work as their own and get paid for it.

Rollis who was village chief for more than two years does not expect to be reappointed after getting his termination letter but not happy when a replacement is not appointed immediately.  Some of my villagers are still approaching me for certification but in other villages of Putatan new village chiefs are already serving the people so why here in Penampang, everything is slow, he added.

He opined that a village chief should command the respect of his villagers, knows what are happening there as well as customs and traditions of the natives. He should recognise all his villagers especially in graveyard issue where outsiders might be buried in the village, he said. Hence it is time that village chiefs are elected by the residents and not otherwise, he added.

Village chiefs are also members of the Native Court or Mahkamah Anak Negeri (MAN) and should be given 5 year term and not based on political cronies, and should only be removed when unable to perform his duties.

My 2 years experience at the MAN, we found the services were really upgraded with nearly a week training to all new village chiefs and members of the MAN inclusive of computerisation.  Are the new recruits able to continue the service smoothly or are they starting with a new round of trainings?  Everytime there is a change of politics, is the MAN going to be overhauled again and again without end, so when will this court be uplifted same as the other courts? Rollis concluded.

Pix:  the human height grass on the road

Inset:  Rollis Mitol

 

 

 

 

FIRST EVER YELLOW BRIDGE IN SABAH, IMPRESSIVE BUT STILL OPEN TO IMPROVEMENTS

 First drafted on Sun 20 Dec 2020.

PENAMPANG.  The first yellow suspension bridge in the district if not in the state, built at Kasigui here appears very impressive with the walkway looking like a steel plate instead of the usual  wooden planks on wire mesh. On closer inspection, it is made of fibreglass with yellow surface colours.

A lady flower stall owner at the foot of the bridge said the bridge was repaired twice this year but the yellow one was installed in first week of December and was completed in a few days after being missing for a few months. She heard from the contractors that the bridge was meant to last around ten years as opposed to weak wooden planks.

However a medical consultant opined that going up and down the bridge is unsafe for senior citizens and elderly where the sharp ridges can lead to trips and fall since there is no handles to hold on.  Meanwhile the frequently flooding river moyog give rise to waterborne diseases which need urgent attention from those in government.

Meanwhile videos and photos of the latest attraction are going around social media spawing spoofs and parodies of the Beatle's old hit, "Yellow Submarine"  all for fun,  and could promote tourism in the district if not for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pix shows the bridge from Kg Nampasan side with a signboard from National Healthy Community encouraging walking as exercise with calories burnt for every thousand steps.