By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Nov 13: The Infrastructure and Port Development Ministry is undertaking a total of 97 “Projek Rakyat” throughout Sarawak with a total value of RM5.4 billion.
Its minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing said out of the 97 projects, 57 are road projects worth RM2.6 billion and 17 bridge projects amounting to RM2.2 billion.
The rest included 21 projects involving the construction of public buildings costing RM336 million, and two airports worth RM301 million.
Among the projects, eight have been completed, 52 under construction, nine currently at tender stage and 28 at design stage.
On the Rural Transformation Initiatives (RTI), the state government has approved an allocation of RM335.1 million to implement 311 rural-based projects through its Key Result Areas (KRAs).
The deputy chief minister said as at September 2019, a total of 216 or 69 per cent of the 311 RTI projects have been completed.
The completed projects included 44 rural dilapidated schools, 30 rural dilapidated clinics, three rural road projects, 95 flood mitigation projects and 44 rural water supply projects.
RTI projects are over and above the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) allocation. It is one of the state’s intervention initiatives to expedite the implementation of development projects in all rural areas, he continued.
“The Cabinet Committee (CabCom), whereby I am the chairman, will intensify its efforts to continuously identify and propose new rakyat-centric rural intervention projects, which are not covered under any State or Federal development funding.
“In the spirit of ‘Sarawak First’, we will continue this initiative as a gap-filler to make a difference in the livelihood of our rural communities,” said Masing during his ministerial winding up speech at Sarawak Legislative Assembly sitting here today. — DayakDaily
