KOTA KINABALU, Oct 12 — A former Sabah Town and Regional Planning Department deputy director has slammed the department’s purportedly dismal exhibit of the state’s structural plans, calling them a disgrace and an embarrassment.

Town planning consultant Douglas Barnes said the 20-year plan from 2014 to 2033, in addition to being poorly displayed, provided inadequate information and was on the whole poorly thought out.

“There seems to be zero effort and thought in promoting and selling the state’s plan. It is being held in a poorly-lit, dark and cold room with no proper displays or signage. There is no planning officer and excitement involved.

 “The state structure plans are an opportunity to sell the state by promoting and generating interest from investors. In this aspect it is an utter failure of the government,” said Barnes, who was in the department from 1980 to 1988.

He said that the central town and country planning board consisting mostly of government officers had made a trip abroad and witnessed some of the world’s best practices in Singapore and Melbourne when it came to urban and town planning and it was shameful to put out an exhibit that falls so far short in comparison.

The Sabah structure plan is a major long-term policy and planning instrument that gives guidance to the direction of development that will be implemented in local and district plans.

The plan is on a 28-day exhibit as part of the Sabah Town and Country Planning Ordinance for public consultation.

Barnes said that the contents of the plan lack vision, details and issues pertinent in a good structural plan.

“What will the government do to bring out the best in each city, town and village? What will they choose to highlight? How will they ensure there is orderly development?

“It is also well and good to landmark areas for major road corridors and other development but how will they go about acquiring private land where there are currently settlements? These things later become major political and social economic issues,” he said.

Barnes said that at this stage, the best thing to do is to have a public forum where the department can answer all questions and explain the plan in detail, especially to affected stakeholders.

“But personally, I feel that they do not know what they are doing.” he lamented.

The Sabah Town and Regional Planning Department director Murshidi Sapie could not be reached for comment.

Yesterday, state DAP secretary Junz Wong criticised the department for the exhibition set-up as well as the contents of the plan.

Calling it pathetic, he said that there was more excitement on the Kota Kinabalu local plan and there must be improvement on the exhibition and public consultation if it was to attract interest from locals and foreign investors.

Wong said he visited the office last week and saw copies of the Draft Final Structure Plan laid on a table in a cold, poorly lit and congested area with old sofa chairs plus one display board with a few maps and explanations in Bahasa Melayu, and an empty fish tank.

Wong said that government should give Sabah’s town planning higher priority especially when it comes to the preparation and administration of a strategic policy and town plans of such importance.