Hi, I'm new here but have been following you guys off an on because I am very interested in the development of Kuantan. Anyway, Kuantan will be Malaysia's 12th city this July.
Bernama.com
Malaysian National News Agency
Kuantan, A City In Waiting
Features
February 12, 2007 10:46 AM
A Special Report By Tuan Sharifah Shahaini
KUANTAN, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- Kuantan, a town noted for its sustainable development, beauty and cleanliness, is to emerge as a city this year.
Kuantan has fulfilled the two most important requisites to become the nation's 12th city. Firstly, its population is more than 450,000 compared to the minimum requirement of 250,000.
Secondly, the Kuantan Town Council's (MPK) annual revenue up to last November amounted to RM84 million, above the minimum of RM80 million set for a city.
Moreover, Kuantan also enjoys many international-class facilities like sports facilities that can accommodate Asian-level tournaments and a host of other highly rated facilities like hotels, ports and highways.
MPK president Datuk Muhammad Safian Ismail said MPK "is ready to face the challenges ahead when Kuantan is declared a city, especially in providing the best services to the public".
"Kuantan is ready to emerge as a city that maintains sustainable development and provides excellent services, but hopes that its residents will cooperate wholeheartedly to ensure Kuantan emerges as a prestigious city," he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama.
He anticipates that Kuantan will achieve the city status around next July but the final decision on the exact date hinges on the decision of the Rulers Council that will approve the proposal to elevate Kuantan to a city.
FOCUS ON IMPROVING CITY TRANSPORTAION
Muhammad Safian said one of the priorities for the city in waiting was improving the intra-city transportation.
This is to overcome the traffic congestion which Kuantan is not spared from like any other major towns in the country.
While other towns and cities attempt to solve the problem by widening roads, building highways and elevated highways that cost billions of ringgit, MPK feels that complementing and improving the existing infrastructure will suffice.
"In Kuala Lumpur, for example, billions of ringgit are spent to widen the roads, build new highways and elevated highways but the traffic congestion still persists.
"The same is happening in Putrajaya, considered a meticulously-planned township, the traffic jam seems unavoidable. So to me, widening of roads provides no guarantee in eliminating or reducing traffic congestion," he said.
Hence, he still believes in going back to the basics to overcome the problem and this is why Kuantan is planning a good public transportation system that is expected to be introduced by the end of next year.
FEEDER BUS SYSTEM TO BE INTRODUCED
He said the feeder bus system would be introduced to overcome traffic woes contributed by the ever-increasing number of private vehicles entering Kuantan.
The proposed feeder bus system is very similar to the Rapid KL in Kuala Lumpur but will be operated by MPK itself.
"We plan to procure 100 feeder buses with 20 of them being on standby if the buses in service break down, and at the same time several 'park n ride' car parks will be designated for the bus service," he said.
The public can still drive their vehicles into the city but must bear in mind that they will have to pay higher parking rates. This will encourage the public to use the feeder bus service.
Muhammad Safian assured that the public would not need to wait long for the buses as they would be available at every five minutes interval and there would be 200 designated bus stops.
He also assured that the fares would be cheap, and with a RM2 ticket they could enjoy a return trip for the day.
Several locations have been identified for the 'park n ride' service including Tanah Putih Baru, Tanjung Lumpur, Indera Mahkota and Beserah with closed- circuit television (CCTV) in place to enhance security.
The locations represent the main entry points into Kuantan from the south, east, west and north with each of the car parks accommodating up to 1,000 vehicles at any one time.
KUANTAN - "TRULY MALAYSIA"
"When Kuantan is declared a city, perhaps there would be many who may face a culture shock as they have to adapt to city life," said Muhammad Sufian.
"We in fact have everything in Kuantan, we have islands, beaches, rivers, hills, lakes, hot springs, caves...meaning that Kuantan is a microcosm of Malaysia and visitors can enjoy everything that Malaysia has to offer right here," he said.
He stressed that all physical development of the new city would take into consideration efforts to alleviate floods and overcome poverty.
MPK has a workforce of 1,363 people and will need an additional 1,600 when it attains city status.
-- BERNAMA