GE13: Sri Gading residents pleased with developments and improvements in township
By ZAZALI MUSA
BATU PAHAT: Loosely translated, Sri Gading means “attractive ivory” in Malay as wild elephants used to roam the area in the past.
Locals believed the origin of the name can be traced back to the time when the late Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar hunted wild animals in the place.
Sultan Ibrahim who ruled Johor from 1895 until 1959, was so impressed by the luster of the ivory — hence the name Sri Gading.
However, the opening of rubber and oil palm plantations and industrial estates in and around Sri Gading had driven away the large herbivorous land mammals from the area.
Sri Gading is also a town located in Batu Pahat district along Jalan Kluang-Batu Pahat — it lies south-east of Batu Pahat town, north-west of Ayer Hitam and west of Yong Peng.
Street hawker Ali Kassim, 39, from Parit Pingan who runs a goreng pisang stall in Parit Raja town is happy with the development taking place in and around Sri Gading area in the past 10 years.
“The upgrading of Jalan Batu Pahat-Kluang from dual lanes road to four-lane about 10 years ago had improved travelling along the route,” said Ali.
He said the Sri Gading and Parit Raja areas used to be flooded during monsoon seasons but the situation has really improved with the flood mitigation project.
Ali said the local economy has also benefitted with the opening of Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Pusat Giat MARA and Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA.
He said for instance, many residents in the traditional villagers had been earning extra income by building houses to be rented out to students and academic staff from the academic institutions.
However, Ali said Parit Raja town with its old wooden houses and shops were an eyesores as they did not blend well with the modern-looking shop houses around them.
“It is timely for the local authority to look at improving the image of Parit Raja town by upgrading the town centre by pulling down the old wooden buildings,” he said.
Ali also hoped that the Batu Pahat District Council to consider building a centralised hawker centre in Parit Raja town as it would bring economic spill-over to the area.
Sales assistant Fatimah Amran, 18, who works in a shoe store at Parit Raja town said many of the students, academic and supporting staff of the institutions patronise shops in the town.
She said the opening of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and McDonald’s Drive-Thru outlet in Sri Gading town had also created job opportunities for local youngsters.
Separately, Fatimah who lives in Kampung Parit Khalid urged the police to beef up their night patrols especially at traditional villages in view of house-break in cases.
“The recent cases at my kampung happened in December last year targeting at families holding wedding celebrations and this January,” she said.
Fatimah said she was looking forward to cast her vote in the 14th general election as she is not qualified to vote in the 13th general election.
Meanwhile, Tan Wee Huat, 32, and his wife Koh Li Chern, 29, had decided to open their hardware store in Sri Gading’s new township Pura Kencana two years ago.
The couple who already owned a similar store in Batu Pahat town just a few kilometers away from the town said business was okay considering the township was rather new.
“We are looking at long-term growth prospects when the township is fully completed; by then it will have enough critical mass to serve the businesses around here,” said Tan.
He also hoped that the police would make their presence felt in the area as many of his customers had told the couple about house-break in cases in kampungs and housing areas.
Koh said while businesses operating at the township had so far been spared from the criminals as the shop houses located along the main road, nevertheless she hoped that the police also patrol the area.
“Like they say better be safe than sorry or prevention is better than cure,” she said.
Factory worker Krishnamuty Alagambaran, 52, and son Premkumar, 25, from Taman Pertama Sri Gading urged the police to beef up their patrolling in the area in view of the snatch theft cases.
“My wife lost her gold chain when she was snatched in front of our own house late last year when two motorists pretending to ask for directions,” he said.
Krishnamuty said after the incident, residents living in the area were now becoming more careful especially when they were approached by strangers.
He said the neighbourliness spirit in the housing estate was good with Malay, Chinese and Indian residents living harmoniously and friendly with each other.
Premkumar who teaches at SJK Tamil Ladang Sri Gading said Jalan Sengkuang, a popular by-pass road among locals was too narrow with uneven road surfaces and potholes.
“The by-pass is actually meant for light vehicles only and now even big lorries are using it, causing risk to other users especially motorcyclists and children cycling to schools,” he said.
Premkumar said Sri Gading area also lack of affordable houses as prices of new houses in Pura Kencana township were too expensive for average income earners.
He hoped that the Government could extend the 1Prima housing scheme to first time house buyers in the area with more realistic pricing and did benchmarking them with prices in Klang Valley, Johor Baru or Penang.
The Sri Gading constituency is made up of two state seats — Parit Yaani and Parit Raja with 44,921 voters in the constituency.
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