KTM Bhd, which runs Sabah Railways and is funding a troubled RM334.8 million 140 km Kota Kinabalu-Tenom upgrading project, has been warned to abide by the regulations and laws of the state and not sideline state railway authorities (JKNS) and Sabah Railways in the implementation of the project which commenced in November 2005.

kota kinabalu tenom railway "The power of KTM is superceded by the authority vested in the state. The state has its own regulations and laws that they must follow including the by-laws of the local authorities and the regulations of the Public Works Department," pointed out Deputy Transport Minister Lajim Ukin when commenting on complaints about KTM in recent days.

"The contractors and project management consultants, the consulting engineers for the project, must submit their plans to the PWD, district office and other relevant state government departments to ensure minimum inconvenience to the people as a result of the project," he said.

For starters, KTM has poured cold water on a proposal by state GLC (government linked corporation) Suria Capital Holding Bhd, for a RM420 million 15 km elevated railway line from the Tanjung Aru main station in Kota Kinabalu, in the heartland of the downtown tourist district, to the Lok Kawi Army Camp in the outskirts of the city, "to solve the problems faced in the implementation of the upgrading works in the Putatan District".

Suria Capital managing director, Abu Bakar Abbas, had been brimming with optimism that the elevated railway track, akin to a flyover common in Kuala Lumpur and parts of China, would be another tourism product considering the scenic Lok-Kawi-Putatan area and provide an alternative route for those heading for the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) from either the city itself or from Tenom where the Sabah Rail link ends.

"It is very possible to build a branch to link to KKIA if we have an elevated railway. It will not disturb any development, expansion, housing or other economic activities going on below," he said.

Building a fun ride?

Lajim has in principle endorsed the elevated railway line “further down the road” but Sabah DAP begs to differ.

"Are we building a railway track just for the fun ride for a few tourists or maybe for a few passengers who want to get to work in KK?" asked Sabah DAP chairperson Hiew King Cheu.

"We have found out that there is practically not enough volume of passengers for the train between Tanjung Aru and Putatan, let alone enough cargo freight to sustain the high operational costs.

kota kinabalu tenom railway 120109 02 "Lok Kawi is a better site for the central railway station due to the availability of land next to the sea while Kinarut, if chosen, will have a chance to prosper through the development that will come to the town," he added.

Hiew noted that the railway service had stopped for two years now.

"There seems to be no problem for those who used to board the train. They have switched to travelling by road," he said without commenting on the massive traffic jams that road users now face in entering and leaving Kota Kinabalu.

Other endorsements for the elevated railway track have come in from the Consumer Association of Sabah and Labuan (Cash) and Sabah PKR.

Cash qualified its endorsement by urging the construction of a monorail system in Kota Kinabalu. The monorail, said Cash president Patrick Sindu, "offers cheap, safe and comfortable service" and cited Kuala Lumpur and Singapore as examples.

Instead, KTM is wrestling with the idea of discontinuing the railway service from the Putatan railway station, shut down the new station in Kepayan and shift to Lok Kawi or Kinarut further in the outskirts of the city.

'Defeatist' plans

Abu Bakar disagrees with these plans, castigating them as "defeatist", and says "the problem can be solved if the state government is able to acquire the railway reserve for the construction of a service road linking one designated level crossing to another".

"Initially, we agreed with the state government and the state ministry of infrastructure development to build the service road but because we cannot get possession of the railway track reserve road, we cannot implement the works to build the access road," said Abu Bakar.

"Instead, we are doing the railway track first in order to meet the schedule. We will leave it to the authorities concerned to find an apt solution. In order to have the proposed service road built and make it available to the public, JKNS needs to begin the acquisition of the railway reserve," he added.

SCHB Engineering Services Sdn Bhd, a Suria Capital subsidiary, is the main contractor for sector 1 of the railway track upgrading project.

Among other major complaints is that KTM is slow and refuses to listen to JKNS and Sabah Railways.

The state railway authorities has been edged out after initially assisting in the upgrading works of the railway tracks while the state has been denied a significant role as supervisor of the federal government-funded upgrading project – "so that any information or problems faced during its implementation can be effectively channeled to the contractor concerned" – and the project is running behind schedule and unnecessarily inconveniencing the people living along the railway tracks.

Residents near the Putatan railway station, for example, cut a hole in the new fencing along the railway track to get from one side to the other forcing the railway station to open a small section to prevent more holes being cut along the fencing.

Fined for delays

Already, Suria Capital and Hikmat Asia Sdn Bhd, the contractor for sector 2, have been fined RM2.518 million for a 137-day delay in completing the project despite being given two extensions.

kota kinabalu tenom railway 120109 01 The contractors pleaded rainfall, landslides and protests and objections by people including squatters living along the track for the delays. Sector 1 was supposed to have been completed on Aug 15 last year and Sector 2 on Oct 2 last year.

"JKNS must be left to settle the squatter problem so that the project would not be hindered (any further)," said Lajim, noting Suria Capital’s complaint that many houses, shop buildings and factories have encroached onto the 66 feet railway track reserve along both sides of the railway line.

In addition, JKNS was supposed to be responsible for constructing the service roads while the contractor would build ten approved level crossings – down from an initial plan for 22 level crossings against the present 50-odd – between the Tanjung Aru main station in Kota Kinabalu and the Lok Kawi Army Camp in the outskirts of the city.

Last week, some 100 people representing some 10,000 residents of Kampung Petagas, staged a peaceful demonstration against the upgrading works at the level crossing of a junction leading to their village. They claimed that the new level crossing was troublesome and posed a danger to motorists.