THE roof of the Astaka (Food Court) at Taman Tun Sardon no longer leaks and this is thanks to Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh who came up with RM9,500 using his constituency funds to foot the repair and renovation bill.
Ramkarpal made the site visit on Aug 11 upon being told that repair works had been completed and he was accompanied by Seri Delima assemblymember Syerleena Abdul Rashid.
“We are today to see (the completed works). The gutters and pipes were changed. The works started two weeks ago and is now complete which is good because things were falling apart. So, when we were informed the works were completed, we wanted to have a look. There are still things need to be done here but at least we have started with the gutters which is most important because it used to leak when it rained back then,” Ramkarpal told Buletin Mutiara.
“We shall see what else we can do for the next phase,” he added.
Also present was Penang Island City Council (MBPP) councilor Rohaizat Hamid.
“This astaka was built in the early 1980s. So, it is very timely to push for (much needed) renovations. For the past several years, (before GE14) we had the state versus federal issue. Now that this is over, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Syerleena said.
“What I am also pushing for is to have continuous meetings to have (the federal agency) ICU (Implementation Coordination Unit) to hand over astakas and complexes to the state as it makes more sense this way. As you can see, the system in Malaysia is that you have some buildings, roads and facilities that are not owned by the state. This is where the challenge is,” she added.
Story & pix by Victor Seow