SIBU: The renaming of Jalan Pahlawan here to Jalan Robert Lau Hoi Chew has been temporally shelved following strong public opposition.
Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Michael Tiang said the people highlighted the significance of the existing road name and felt that renaming the road would cause them great inconvenience.
“I received a lot of responses and messages from the ground they the people are not happy. They think that we should not touch the existing road name. But, they have no objection if we build a new road and have it named after Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew.
“I totally agree we shouldn’t do anything that would inconvenience the rakyat. That will defeat the purpose of having a new name for Jalan Pahlawan,” he said when met by reporters after officiating at the SJK(C) Kiang Hin Teacher’s Day celebration yesterday (May 25).
He said he had brought the people’s feedback to the attention of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
“He agree to asked the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) to put on hold and not to proceed with the road name change. So, now, we have suspended the action and I will bring the matter back to the Cabinet,” he said.
The Pelawan assemblyman hoped that the public will give him time to follow up on the matter.
“I cannot call it off. I have no power (to do so). I have to bring the matter back to the Cabinet to reconsider in the interest of the public.
“So, please give me some time, be patient I will bring back the latest feedback from the Cabinet,” he said.
On May 11, SMC chairman Clarence Ting reportedly said the road will be renamed to Jalan Lau Hoi Chew and the proposal to rename it had been approved earlier in February.
The name change was to honour the late Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew for his contributions to Sibu.
