KUCHING, May 4 — Kuching’s air quality must remain a priority if the city is to remain one of the cleanest cities in the world, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg.
He said the Sarawak government is taking the approoach of determining traffic flow and vehicle mobility to reduce air pollution in the city.
“For us to maintain our city’s position as one of the cleanest cities, Sarawak (is taking the step as) the only state prioritising the use of environmental-friendly fuel, namely hydrogen.
“Our public transport uses clean fuel and we hope the vehicles used in Sarawak also use the cleanest fuel according to the government’s roadmap,” he said in his speech at the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) Aidilfitri dinner here on Friday.
He added the use of hydrogen-powered Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) vehicles soon is also an environmentally friendly approach where public transport won’t pollute the environment.
“I hope DBKU and the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) will identify and communicate with the people on how important it is to have public transport that does not pollute the air.
“This will raise our position as one of the cleanest cities in the world for the long term,” he said.
IQAir, which operates AirVisual, a real-time air quality information platform in the beginning of the year had ranked Kuching as the world’s 11th cleanest city with 18 air qality index (AQI) points.
The state capital outranked Kuala Lumpur, which was placed 86th with an AQI of 88 points.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi said DBKU plans to establish a partnership with the city of Kyoto in Japan.
He said the visit to Japan will allow DBKU to learn and witness many of the best practices to improve Kuching city.
“A working paper (on this visit) will be prepared and presented to the Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg,” said Dr Abdul Rahman, who is also the deputy minister in charge of DBKU.
Also present were DBKU Datuk Bandar Hilmy Othman and MBKS mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng. — The Borneo Post
