KUCHING, Dec 12 — "Shocking and regretful.”

That’s how Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian has described Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s pledge to cancel the proposed Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) project should Pakatan Harapan (PH) win the Dec 18 state election.

Dr Sim said that Chong, being the Stampin Member of Parliament, should realise that traffic congestion in the city of Kuching was getting worse due to growing population and affluence.

"Does Chong not know that Kuching’s population and the number of vehicle registrations have been growing at 3 per cent and 8 per cent respectively per year, resulting in an increase in traffic in the city?

"Based on current growth trends for urban traffic in Kuching, the number of vehicles in this city is estimated to grow by 41 per cent from 317,400 in 2015 to 449,200 in 2030,” Dr Sim, who is contesting the Batu Kawah seat in the 12th Sarawak state election, said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Chong, who is contesting in the Padungan constituency, reportedly said that PH would not pursue ‘white elephant’ megaprojects like the ART if it takes over as the state government.

Sim, however, called on voters in Kuching and Sarawak to vote for GPS and reject DAP and PH if they believed that Kuching and Sarawak deserved development, modern amenities and fewer congested city roads. — Bernama