KUCHING, Sept 27: Works Minister Baru Bian will be leading a three-day Pan Borneo Highway project tour beginning this Saturday (Sept 29) to inspect its progress.
Tagging along for the ‘Jelajah FT Roadpedia’ initiative will be senior management staff of project delivery partner Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd (LBU) and personnel from the Works Ministry, Sarawak Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Transportation, state Public Works Department, and newsmen.
The first leg of the site visit will start at the work package contract (WPC01), which involves the Telok Melano-Sematan route and Sematan-Sungai Moyan (WPC02) stretch. At WPC01, the entourage will get to see asphalt laying and also the progress of guardrail and street lighting poles installation at the Telok Melano-Sematan stretch, which is expected to be completed early next year.
Enroute back to Kuching, the tour will pass WPC02 to see the on-going construction work of the Bau-Lundu interchange at the Sematan-Sungai Moyan stretch, said LBU through a post on its Facebook page ‘Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak’.
“Other than the two interchanges, there would be four other interchanges constructed under WPC02 at Mile 4 1/2, Mile 6, Mile 7 and Mile 10 — where traffic along the Kuching-Serian road is known to be one of the busiest,” it said.
Baru is expected to join the trip on the second day, where he will officially flag-off the entourage for their journey from Kuching to Sibu, covering WPC02 to the Bintangor-Julau junction and Sibu Airport-Sungai Kua Bridge under WPC07.
The tour will make a pitstop at Batang Rajang Bridge, or popularly known as Durin Bridge. At 1.708km, it is the longest bridge to be constructed in the Sarawak stretch of the Pan Borneo Highway project.
Ministry officials would also be briefed on the Traffic Management and Integrated Project Management System.
The third day (Oct 1) would see the entourage continuing their road trip all the way to Miri, where they will stop by SK Sungai Buloh for an earth-breaking ceremony.
The main contractor for the Sungai Kua Bridge-Sg Arip Bridge (WPC08), Musyati-Mudajaya JV Sdn Bhd, has undertaken a project to rebuild a dilapidated school as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
“Other than the company, the main contractors for the other 10 work packages have also taken up a dilapidated school each to rebuild in their respective construction stretch,” the statement continued.
After the earth-breaking ceremony, the entourage will proceed to look at the progress of the Nyabau interchange, which had just completed its beam launch early this month. Once completed, the Nyabau interchange will ease traffic from Sibu to Miri and vice-versa. At the interchange, the entourage is scheduled to make a short visit to the nearby Nyabau casting yard.
The last lap of the visit will be at Sungai Tangap-Pujut Link Road (WPC11), before the entourage adjourns for a closing dinner at a leading hotel in Miri.
The Sarawak portion of the Pan Borneo Highway, involving 11 work packages, covers a total length of 1,060km, with a combined contract value of RM16.49 billion. — DayakDaily
