Interview with Bernama
By Jumiati Rosli

KL To Have Covered Walkways
A short interview with the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day

Kuala Lumpur will be adding a network of covered walkways to its landscape starting with the walkway connecting Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and the nearby Bukit Bintang commercial district.

The Ministry of Federal Territories and Urban Well-being in ensuring an extensive network of walkways will help to integrate the walkways provided by private developers so that all buildings in the city centre will be connected by such walkways in the future.

Its minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin noted that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall is planning out the walkways and for a start Petronas would allocate about RM100 million to build the covered walkways around KLCC.

While admitting that Kuala Lumpur at present is not pedestrian friendly compared with other cities, he hoped that the proposed walkways would help reduce the number of cars on the road.

He pointed out that countries like Hong Kong has covered walkways and they have proven to be effective in encouraging pedestrian traffic movement.

“Citizens in other big cities prefer to walk. But here things are different partly because of the sun and the rain but the attitudes will change when there is comfortable covered walkway with fans for example,” he said during an exclusive interview with Bernama.

In future, the Ministry will stipulate that developers provide covered walkways in their development plan.

Meanwhile in Putrajaya, efforts are being taken to overcome shortage of parking spaces.

For a start, a campaign to encourage the public to take the bus will be implemented along with Putrajaya Corporation’s move to add 70 more buses in stages.

Raja Nong Chik pointed out that according to Putrajaya’s initial plan, 70 per cent of the people living there were suppose to use public transportation and the rest their own vehicles.

“I was informed that previously the parking spaces were meant for visitors only. But because the civil servants started using their own vehicles, now there is not only shortage of parking space but also traffic jams,” he said .

He said currently the bus services provided for the public is underutilised and even those using them in Putrajaya are foreigners.

“Not many are using them except the foreigners and it is sad that the public failed to appreciate the facility provided by the government,” he said.

Raja Nong Chik said those living in Putrajaya prefer to use their own vehicles as there is no school bus service in the vicinity.

To overcome this problem, Putrajaya Corporation is looking into the possibility of converting several of the existing buses into school buses.

Another of the facility that is not fully utilised in Putrajaya is the “Park and Ride”. Only a small number of people is using the service, especially those working in Putrajaya but not staying there.

The “Park & Ride” concept was introduced in Putrajaya in 2007 to overcome traffic congestion and the lack of parking spaces there.

Helping The Poor In Federal Territory
Part 2, of the interview with the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day

Eradicating poverty in the city will be top on the list for the Ministry of Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being as the government shifts its focus to help the needy in towns as well.

The poor in the cities were left out because the government policies to assist them focused on rural areas that was once synonymous with poverty but the rural-urban migration has brought poverty to town.

Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin said by June the government would outline the ministry’s role in addressing urban poverty in Kuala Lumpur.

“The focus will be areas where low income earners concentrate like the public housing projects for low wage earners and squatter areas. The focus will also be on left out areas in Chow Kit, Kampung Baru and Kampung Pandan,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama in his office here.

When delivering the 2010 Budget speech last October, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the scope of the Federal Territories Ministry be expanded and its role strengthened with ministry’s name changed to the present one. Raja Nong Chik pointed out that the rural-urban migration over the last 30 years resulted in 63 per cent of Malaysians living in towns with the majority in Kuala Lumpur.

“This means the population demography has changed but the government’s focus is still in rural areas through various programmes like the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra) and the Rubber Industry Smallholder’s Development Authority (Risda).

“There are instances where the rural roads are far better than the one in towns. People only think of the infrastructure but what about the fate of those who have migrated to towns but have no means to survive,” he asked.

However, the number of hardcore poor in the city is insignificant but their voice has many implications for various parties.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK9), the assistance programmes are earmarked for the hardcore poor registered on the e-kasih database developed by the Implementation Coordination Unit in the Prime Minister’s Department.

“The programme to assist the poor in town include paying the rental for those who cannot buy houses and for those who qualify, for example we may help them to invest in Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN),” he said.

Other than that he said, assistance for school children and to enhance skills are being looked into and these depend on the amount allocated for the ministry.

Raja Nong Chik Uses 7P Philosophy To Help City Dwellers
The final part of the interview with the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day

He was appointed Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister less than a year ago, but with his 25 years “experience as a commoner”, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin stepped up to improve the wellbeing of the people in the Federal Territories.

Armed with the 7P Philosophy, Raja Nong Chik conducted regular and informal visits to the ground to listen to the people’s problems.

“I have been politically involved in the Federal Territories for about 20 years, so I know the basic problems faced by the city dwellers.

“When I was appointed to lead the ministry, I use the 7P Philosophy to help me focus on the job,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama in conjunction with the 36th Federal Territories Day here.

He said the 7P Philosophy consisted of seven aspects namely development, housing, maintenance, hawkers, enforcement, public transportation and caring attitude.

Raja Nong Chik expressed confidence that if the ministry were to focus on the seven aspects, its performance would be improved, the people would be satisfied, and it would eventually bring a better impact on the government especially during election.

On housing woes in Kuala Lumpur, he said the ministry had issued 28,000 application forms for the tenants of the People’s Housing Project (PPR) to purchase their units.

So far, he said 24,000 applications were received by the ministry, 15,000 of which had been processed.

“Although the Prime Minister had announced the sale of 47,000 PPR units in the city, we have yet to receive some of the houses from the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

“From the feedback that we received, 85 per cent of the PPR tenants have shown interests to purchase their units,” he said.

On squatters, he said there were approximately 5,000 squatters in government-owned land in Kuala Lumpur, especially in Jinjang, Kepong, Cheras and Kampung Pandan.

“I want to stress that while aiming to achieve zero-squatter, our main target is to ensure the squatters’ wellbeing so that they can accept the idea of relocation,” he said.

Raja Nong Chik said forcing the squatters to move would not do any good, especially when they started to stage protests against the government.

While lauding those who had accepted the government’s offer to be relocated into PPR units, he said they were living in a better condition now and enjoying facilities like community hall and surau.

On hawker issues, the minister said a policy on hawkers would be drafted with transparent enforcement to turn the job into a respectable profession.

Currently, he said there were 50,000 registered hawkers in Kuala Lumpur, while over 50,000 others were unregistered.

Raja Nong Chik said the 7P Philosophy also promoted caring attitude among the ministry’s staff, especially in discharging their duties.

“What’s the point of doing something if, at the end of the day, the people are left feeling dissatisfied?

“In the relocation of squatters, for example, we should also think about where they should be relocated to and how it should be done. If we see that their rights need to be defended, then we should find a way to defend them,” he said.

As a result of this caring attitude, the minister had also expanded the scope of the Federal Territories Foundation to help the people.

“Usually, the government procedures to help flood or fire victims as well as the needy would take quite some times. Via the foundation, we can offer direct help and assistance to the needy in just 12 hours, he said.

Relating his experience, Raja Nong Chik said he was once forced to go to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall for almost 50 times just to help the squatters in Kampung Pasir Permata, which was formerly known as Kampung Pasir Lama.

“If someone with a title like me had to go through all that, then imagine what those who are new in the city would have to go through. Who will help these people if we don’t?” he said.

On the proposed development in Kampung Baru, he said the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was expected to visit the area next month.

“I hope the proposed development could be implemented soon. The longer the land owners have to wait, the bigger their losses will be because the value of the property in Kampung Baru differs from other areas in the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).

“I do hope during my tenure, a significant approach could be taken so that Kampung Baru would be developed,” he said.

Apart from his 7P Philosophy, Raja Nong Chik is also among the ministers who are active using their weblog and Facebook as a platform to reach out to the people.

He said the social networking website, Facebook, was very effective as many new ideas and suggestions were being thrown in, especially by the young people.

“These young citizens rarely attended my programmes and if they were, they probably did not get the chance to speak directly to me. But, thanks to Facebook, they can now interact with me,” he said.

Raja Nong Chik has his “Facebook Hour” every Wednesday where he spent one hour to answer all questions directly in real time.

Meanwhile, on the 36th Federal Territories Day celebration, the minister hoped that it would give a new spirit for the people to work closely with the ministry to improve and develop the territories while reducing political controversies.

“We have to focus on how to cooperate and improve our existing facilities, as well as our attitude to be of a world-class. That includes no littering and no illegal parking,” he said.

– BERNAMA