PARTI Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) has formed three task forces to look into the issues and problems faced by people living in the state’s major urban centres.

This comes as the party gears itself to head into its first election as an “independent, unaffiliated” party.

PSB, headed by former international trade and e-commerce state minister Wong Soon Koh, was a pro Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) party until July 2019.

It was then booted out of the GPS Plus state government, after being accused of pinching fellow coalition partners’ members.

The task forces were to be divided into three areas covering the southern zone centered around Sarawak’s most populous city Kuching, and the central and northern zones.

The central zone will cover Sibu and the major townships surrounding it while the northern zone will cover Miri, the gas town of Bintulu and Limbang.

Wong, in launching the southern zone task force today, said the main objective of the exercise was to pinpoint the most pressing issues faced by urban dwellers, “do an in-depth study” of them and propose a solution to the problems.

Its Batu Lintang assemblyman, See Chee How, will head the southern task force, which Wong said will be made up of “young and old” professionals.

See said high in his priority list of problems were flash floods in Kuching and the sprawling residential areas of Batu Kawa and Matang on the outskirts of the city, and traffic congestion in Kuching city.

See also said the flash floods were linked to the nine proposed flood mitigation projects, some approved more than five years ago, that were still stuck in red tape.

All nine are federally funded projects.

Last February, residents in these areas were forced out of their homes by flood brought on by overnight rainfall.

Some were forced to seek shelter in relief centres again a couple of weeks back.

See, the former PKR Sarawak deputy chairman who was sacked last year for allegedly not supporting Anwar Ibrahim’s aspiration to be the prime minister, said while town hall style meetings would be a way to gather information, the main channel would be via the various social media platforms in the inner-city areas.

Other issues high in the list the revival of the economy, education and infrastructure development.

Wong said the rural areas of the state will soon similarly be looked into by the yet to be launched rural task forces. – March 9, 2021.