MP Chan Foong Hin urged the developer of Sutera Avenue, Mah Sing Group, to honour its promise to build an overhead pedestrian bridge linking Sutera Avenue and Riverson for better connectivity and safer crossing by pedestrians.

He said the developer had promised to City Hall years ago to build the bridge.

"A group of 116 Sutera Avenue unit owners led by a couple, Kelly Tai Siew Yong and her husband Pete Wong Tuck Meng, have submitted to me a petition signed by the owners regarding the matter.

"I sympathise with the owners. As Kota Kinabalu MP, I will do my best and therefore I urge the developer to honour the promise as soon as possible," he told reporters after receiving the petition at Sutera Avenue, here, Thursday.

Chan said having the overhead pedestrian bridge would prevent road accidents from happening to locals and tourists crossing the road.

According to Kelly, the developer promised to construct the overhead bridge in July 2016.

"Actually the developer did call a meeting with the unit owners at Sutera Avenue on March 14, this year to inform that the Public Works Department (PWD) had proposed a longer pedestrian bridge and asked the developer to come up with a new design in accordance with the proposal.

"We were then told by the developer's officials that preparations for the plan would take about three weeks. So, after three weeks, I called the developer's officials but was told that the design of the plan was not ready yet.

"Hence, we came up with the petition calling for the pedestrian bridge to be built through MP Chan so that appropriate action can be taken," she said.

On July 5, 2016, the paper reported Senior Chief Operating Officer James Bruyns of Mah Sing Group as saying that the proposed bridge was still in the planning stage and shall commence work once approval is granted by the authorities.

For better safety and to prevent crossing on the highway, Chan said a 650m fence would be built starting from the traffic light near Harbour City and passing the Sutera Avenue. "I will be using my MP's funds to construct the fence estimated to cost RM200,000 and City Hall has prepared the design. It is now subjected to the approval of the Sabah Development Office (SDO) as my MP funding falls under the Implementation and Coordination Unit (ICU) of the Prime Minister's Department, which will normally take three weeks to a month."

"Hopefully, we can start building the fence after the Ramadan month," he said.

Meanwhile, Sabah Tour and Travel Association (Satta) Chairman Datuk Seri Winston Liaw proposed that City Hall create a zebra crossing from Sutera Avenue to the Riverson side with flash lights so that motorists can slow down their vehicles to allow pedestrians, including tourists, to cross the road safely. He said this is vital as a temporary measure while waiting for the pedestrian bridge to be built