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Changing of the guard at City Hall
Published on: Sunday, January 14, 2024
By: Datuk John Lo
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Noorliza (right) handing over duties to new Kota Kinabalu mayor Sabin, as Safar (second left) looks on.
CM Hajiji appointed Noorliza in December 2020.
She should make all Sabahan ladies proud. She started working at DBKK when it was still a Municipal Council back in 1996. She has been in charge of various departments before assuming the post of Director General of DBKK. She was also the first lady in Sabah to become Director General in DBKK.
Noorliza’s appointment is the epitome of a gutsy lady who has done exceedingly well in a man’s world. All 5 Mayors before her were men. She has proven her mettle truly well.
Managing DBKK is a tough job by any standard, with many and multi-faceted problems that have been accumulated over the years. Worst is probably the perennial financial problems.
The time could not be worse when she assumed the duties of DBKK’s Mayor. The world was engulfed with Covid-19. KK, like the rest of the world, had been shut down. People were working from home.
Many people in KK became redundant and jobless with no income over-night. Tourists stopped coming. KK’s economy was at a near complete stop. Noorliza was faced with an unprecedented situation that nobody in the world has any experience on how to manage.
Even mighty New York city had been brought down on her knees. Noorliza led the DBKK team to clean up KK in the hope of stopping the deadly scourge from spreading out of control.
The islanders in Gaya Island were out of control, refusing to be confined on the island and insisted on coming to KK. The impressive photo in the Daily Express at that time was Noorliza at the jetty, standing firm, arms akimbo, not letting the islanders to get onshore. There was a stand-off. Noorliza triumphed.
She forbade them to land and they eventually backed down and returned to Gaya Island. Would a male mayor confront these Gaya islanders?
Noorliza has cleaned up KK, especially the central market. She took up the broom, led the DBKK team to action, much to the appreciation of the stall-owners. Not thought possible for a long time. Noorliza has also has cleaned up Sinsuran which is the dirtiest and most rundown part of KK.
Another Noorliza’s initiative was the pop art panting of buildings in KK. This has given KK a distinctive character and a unique tourism attraction. KK outshines Kuching anytime in vibrancy.
Noorliza’s most important legacy is the improvement of response time to complaints and suggestions from the city folks. No matter how mundane, they would get done in double quick time.
Noorliza has dared to conduct inspection on refugee settlements personally.
Being very passionate for her job and for KK, she has many left many significant legacies for the capital city.
NEW MAJOR SABIN, NEW EXPECTATIONS, NEW HOPES.
Hajiji has chosen well. Residents of Kota Kinabalu can have very high expectations from our new Mayor Sabin, especially in the management of DBKK. As the First Sabahan having risen to become the Director General of the Income Tax Board, we can be assured he will build on the legacies of Noorliza and will elevate the quality of management of KK as our capital city.
Sabin has already expounded some of his initial ideas, all of which get my 100pc support as they will enhance the qualities of living for the KK citizen. I also hope Sabin can look into some of the followings:
[a] Position KK to benefit from Nusantara.
Many Sabahans have commented that KK will benefit from the completion of Nusantara without offering ideas on how to do it. KK, in its present stage, has very few strengths to compete with the new capital city.
If KK is not ready to take on Nusantara. KK is likely to lose in a big way. The first is KKIA if it continues to be poorly managed and the service is lousy. I can predict that Sabah will lose out in tourism and flights to Nusantara.
The reality is that KK has limited choice, higher cost and lower quality service level. Most significantly, Indonesians are much more hard working. KK’s sea food is 50pc more expensive!
Just for record, Kalimantan is 73pc of Borneo Island and have unimageable amount of natural resources and natural attractions. Fundamentally, KK will compete with a major country’s sparkling new capital.
I hope Sabin will look into our competitive advantages and disadvantages thoroughly and produce an action plan urgently. Just a reminder, time is not on our side. Indonesia will celebrate its National Day in Nusantara this very year!
[b] Revamp and organise the food industry.
KK does not have any food security and the hygiene standard is very lacking [except may be in the better 5* hotels]. There is no proper place for kitchens in many so-called restaurants. Very much worse at the hawker stalls. Piped water is a rarity.
There is a lot of potential to value add in the food industry if we can improve the hygiene standards, quality of cooking, presentation and above all, some good decent restaurants. So far, there has been no organized promotion of ethnic food! Big potentials!
[c] Incentives for corporate HQ or regional MNC HO in KK.
KK has grown rapidly in the last 10 years. Flight connections are good. KKIA is the 2nd busiest airport in Malaysia. It is time for KK to consider and implement a plan to attract corporate HQ from Malaysia and reginal MNC HO. It will be difficult to start but we should not be deterred by the initial problems.
Strong economic leadership, sufficient incentives and attractions can transform KK as a regional corporate destination. The economic benefits will be tremendous in the long ran.
[d] Promote KK as Sabah Convention City.
Sabah has invested RM1.2B in SICC. SICC is a waste to just cater for local events and functions. Datuk Christina Liew is forming the Sabah Convention Bureau. I hope DBKK will be proactively promoting KK as the Sabah Convention City.
ECONOMIC PLAN FOR KK.
Many well-managed capital cities are economic engines of the countries, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Likewise, KK can become the economic capital city of Sabah.
This can be done with a well-thought-out economic plan for KK. I am certain that we have many potentials that can be tapped to enhance KK’s economy and the economy of Sabah.
KK RESIDENTS MUST RALLY TO SUPPORT NEW MAYOR SABIN.
All too often, KK residents have been responsible for the many problems of KK. We are not very city proud of our capital city.
We must become part of the solution.
We must rally to support new Mayor Sabin so that he can transform KK for us and our families to live and work.
- The views expressed here are the views of the writer Datuk John Lo and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express.
- If you have something to share, write to us at: [email protected]
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