KOTA KINABALU: The city’s "newly completed" multi-million ringgit Sky Bridge has become a laughing stock among Sabahans as one of its pathways stops at a dead end.

       The dead-end is the one connecting the Center Point Sabah (CPS) mall in the city, raising questions as to why the project was declared "complete and ready" to use with it set to officially open to the public on Thursday (Sept 9).

       Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) vice-president Gee Tien Siong in explaining the matter said that the RM31.5mil project was actually completed in accordance with the original plan.

       He said the 440-metre Sky Bridge was equipped with escalators, an elevator for the disabled and 20 kiosks connecting Asia City, Api-Api Commercial Centre, Warisan Square and Oceanus Mall.

       He said the design of the Sky Bridge did not exclude the CPS shopping mall, but Centre Point Sabah was responsible for constructing the connection between the Sky Bridge and its mall, which is expected to be done after Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

       He said at present, fences have been set up at the junction to ensure the safety of users.

       When the bridge was launched recently, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had explained that CPS was in charge of opening up an entrance that connects the bridge to their mall.

       When questioned, a staff member of the CPS management who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they were willing to cooperate with the government and project developers.

       The staff member however said there could be some miscommunication between both parties, and that there was the issue of cost among other matters that have yet to be resolved.

       The staff member said their manager might release an official statement on this soon.

       This Sky Bridge was initially funded by the Prime Minister's Department Public Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) through a facilitation fund agreement between the government of Malaysia, Malaysia Development Bank, and Sunsea Development Sdn Bhd on Feb 9, 2017.

       Under the agreement, the Malaysian Government has the right to terminate the facilitation fund should the developer become insolvent.

       Construction of the pedestrian linkages and upgrading works of the surrounding infrastructures began on April 1, 2017, and were scheduled for completion within six months (Sept 30, 2017) but later extended to April 30, 2018.

       Sunsea Development Sdn Bhd was given the winding-up order on April 18, 2018 with 90% of the project already completed, the contractor, Petrofiq Sdn Bhd halted works citing it did not receive payment.

       During the previous state government's administration under Warisan-Plus (2018-20), the project was abandoned indefinitely with works stopping when the developer was declared insolvent.

       Earlier this year, Hajiji visited the site and immediately announced an RM4.7mil allocation from the state government to complete the project.

       He had also instructed that it be completed as soon as possible for the convenience and safety of the public.