PENAMPANG: DAP Sabah chairman, Jimmy Wong yesterday called on City Hall mayor, Datuk Abidin Madingkir, to reduce the parking fees charged in the city.
He said the parking fee charged was too high and is having an impact on the folks working in the city.
“I am pleading on their behalf. Please reduce the parking fee to that before the parking coupon system was introduced. I plead for humanity’s sake. The people will be severely affected by the soon-to-be introduced GST (Goods and Services Tax), the hike in fuel price and now this,” he said.
He added that since the parking coupon system was introduced in October 1, there has been a hike of between 50 per cent and 100 per cent in the parking fees charged by City Hall.
“The working folks will have no choice but to pay because they still have to park their car when they go to work in the city,” he said.
Jimmy said City Hall would need to think outside the box to address its shortage of parking spaces within the city.
“Introduce the Rapid Bus System or encourage people to use bicycles and motorcycles by providing a special lane for these modes of transportation,” he said.
At the same time, he also urged for a monorail service be introduced in the city.
He explained that Kota Kinabalu has a population of more than a million and the system should be introduced in the city.
He also mentioned that he would be visiting Taipei to check on how the city has successfully implemented a system that reduced their traffic jam by 30 per cent within a period of two years. The trip is planned for Oct 30.
“After the trip, we will be presenting a memorandum to the City Hall,” he said.