Tebrau residents are frustrated by the daily traffic congestion. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
Voters: Congestion problem not only on roads but also at Bandar Tiram’s sole health clinic
SEVERE traffic congestion is the main problem Tebrau residents want their future MP to solve.
Constituents have also expressed their disappointment over the road condition in certain parts of Tebrau, especially the Ulu Tiram area, which are marked with potholes and prone to flash floods.
Some have said that they wanted an MP who could push for an upgrade of the existing facilities to cope with the increase in population.
First-time voter Wong Jun Kai, 19, said Tebrau residents were tired of having to face traffic congestion and hoped that their future MP could mitigate the problem.
“It is getting from bad to worse as more and more people are living here due to its strategic location.
“It is close to Johor Baru town, Kota Tinggi, Kulai and Pasir Gudang. This makes it the ideal place to live for those working in those areas or Singapore.
“It is almost impossible to leave the house without dealing with heavy congestion, especially in the morning,” he said.
Wong highlighted that despite the vast development in the area, some roads were littered with potholes.
“Sometimes, it takes days for the potholes to be fixed despite us lodging multiple complaints. It is also common for the potholes to reappear,” he added.
Nicole Wong chatting with the people of Tebrau during one of her walkabouts.
Doctoral student R. Heeravathy, 27, said that apart from solving the long-standing congestion problem, there was an urgent need to upgrade existing government facilities.
“There is only one health clinic in Bandar Tiram and it caters to people from many residential areas around it.
“It is too small for the huge population here. There is insufficient manpower to attend to the high number of patients depending on the clinic.
“Parking space at the facility is also limited.
“As such, there is a need for another health clinic, or at least expand the existing one,” she said.
Puah meeting Tebrau constituents.
Other public facilities such as schools and police stations should also be added to the area to cope with its population, said Heeravathy.
On the traffic congestion, she said it was made worse by flash floods that happened often.
“Even without floods, we will be stuck in a jam for about half an hour to an hour at the junction of Ulu Tiram heading toward Johor Baru.
“The traffic will be much worse during rainy season as some of the roads will be inundated with water, making it difficult for vehicles to pass through,” she added.
Nurse Muhamad Khairil Mohmad Kadenen, 22, said it usually took him at least an hour to get from his house in Kampung Sungai Tiram to Johor Baru for work.
Mohamad Isa (left) taking a photo with a voter.
“The distance between my house and my workplace in Larkin is not that far. It should only take about 30 minutes but the traffic jam would cause me to be on the road for double that duration.
“On top of that, the areas near my house are often used by heavy vehicles, causing the roads to be damaged faster.
“Some of these lorries are overloaded and may pose a hazard to other road users,” he observed, hoping that the authorities would monitor the situation more closely.
The Tebrau constituency is carved out of the Johor Baru district and has two state seats -- Puteri Wangsa and Tiram.
The parliamentary seat is set to see an intense three-cornered fight between a former state executive councillor, a national youth leader and a first-time contender.
Khairil lives only half-hour from his workplace in Johor Baru but needs at least an hour to get there because of traffic jam.
In the 14th General Election (GE14), the seat was won by a former PKR man Steven Choong Shiau Yoon, who won the seat against Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung from Barisan Nasional (MCA) and Abdullah Husin from PAS.
Despite earlier indicating that he would be defending his seat under the Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) ticket, Choong dropped out on the eve of nomination day for GE15, saying that he wanted to focus on his studies and strengthening the party.
His friend-turned-political rival, Jimmy Puah Wee Tse is determined to grab the seat back for Pakatan Harapan and PKR.
Puah is the former Bukit Batu assemblyman and the state international trade, investment and utility committee chairman.
He will face a popular Barisan Nasional figure, Datuk Nicole Wong Siaw Ting, who is the first MCA female Youth chief and a former Senator, as well as Mohamad Isa Mohamad Basir, a former Johor Baru City councillor from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
Wong: The traffic jam is getting from bad to worse.
There are 223,301 registered voters in the Tebrau parliamentary constituency, the highest in Johor and surpassing other cities such as Iskandar Puteri (222,437 voters) and Johor Baru (136,368 voters).
Many people from other states and districts have migrated here for their careers.
Tebrau is also home to one of the largest and busiest government hospitals in Johor, Hospital Sultan Ismail, three popular malls and at least 60 residential areas.
It is surrounded by major towns and cities in southern Johor, including Iskandar Puteri.
It was said that the name Tebrau, which is also the name of the straits (Selat Tebrau) that separates Johor and Singapore, originated from an Orang Asli Selatar word “tambrau”, which means guardian spirit.
Others said the word came from the Tebrau plant, which looks like sugar cane and grows near river banks.
