SAPP: Federal govt ignoring calls for extended UTC hours

KOTA KINABALU - The federal government seems indifferent to the voices of Sabah and Sarawak by ignoring calls to restore longer operating hours for the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC), opposition Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) says.

The party's information chief Chin Vui Kai said this was despite both Sabah and Sarawak DAP MPs calling on Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to restore the operating hours for UTCs in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching from 1pm to 10pm.

"It is now close to six weeks since the DAP MPs from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching made their call but nothing has happened," Chin said.

He said these MPs were confident that it would be resolved but to date, the operating hours have yet to be extended.

The operating hours were changed by the Finance Ministry and had drawn criticism as the UTC usually served the working population who did not have time to process their documents and pay bills during office hours.

UTC KK and UTC Kuching operating hours have been shortened from 10pm to 6.30pm and 7pm respectively.

"The federal government should not deprive the Sabah people of the right to convenient and efficient public services and not to add more burden to the people of Sabah," Chin added.