SAPP Explains RM31.5 Million Skybridge With Dead End Following Ridicule From Sabahans
"Sabah's RM31.5 million skybridge. To go to the mall, need to jump down from it."
By May Vin Ang — 09 Sep 2021, 12:58 PM
The newly completed RM31.5 million skybridge in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah became a laughing stock among locals after a netizen pointed out it has a dead end
According to The Borneo Post, the air-conditioned pedestrian bridge was constructed to connect four shopping complexes – Asia City, Api-Api Commercial Centre, Warisan Square, and Oceanus Mall.
However, someone saw the new bridge has a pathway leading to Centre Point Sabah, one of the oldest shopping centres in Kota Kinabalu, that ended up at a brick wall outside the first floor.
"Sabah's RM31.5 million skybridge. To go to the mall, need to jump down from it," the Twitter user joked, showing photos of the dead end and the gap between the bridge and the mall.
The tweet garnered over 5,000 retweets and 8,000 likes, with other netizens joking that they will have to run through the shopping mall's wall like Harry Potter going to Hogwarts.
Addressing the matter, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) vice president Gee Tien Siong said the skybridge was actually completed according to plan
"The overpass was not connected to Centre Point Sabah because the shopping centre itself is responsible for building their link to the skybridge," he said in a statement on Wednesday, 8 September.
"Even so, the junction between the bridge and the shopping mall has been fenced up to ensure safety of users."
He added that the the air-conditioned skybridge is equipped with escalators, elevators for persons with disabilities, and 20 kiosks between the malls.
Gee said people were only spreading malicious rumours to discredit the hard-won facility and the work of his political party and the state government.
The 400m walkway officially opened to the public today, 9 September, after four years in construction
According to Bernama, the bridge was initially funded by the Public Private Partnership Unit (UKAS) of the Prime Minister's Department, and the agreement was made between the federal government and Sunsea Development Sdn Bhd in 2017.
The project was abandoned indefinitely in 2018 after the developer went bankrupt.
However, earlier this year, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor visited the site and injected an additional RM4.7 million from the state government to complete the project.
