By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, April 28: The Batang Rambungan Bridge project has shown positive development with a new completion date by July next year, ahead of the original July 2027 completion date.
According to the Sarawak Public Communication Unit (UKAS), Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this followed an official working visit to the project site in Lundu today, which was joined by Public Works Department (JKR) officers and the contractor.
The 560 metre-long bridge, worth RM82 million, is a ‘rescue’ project taken over by Titanium Project Management Sdn Bhd following the previous contractor’s failure to complete it.
“This company has a good reputation in building bridges, and the main construction materials needed for the project are already at the site, except for the cables, which are still on the way,” he said.
He added that with the favourable weather, he expressed optimism that the bridge will be completed within the allocated timeframe.
In related developments, he mentioned that the transition of the project from the old contractor to the new one has gone smoothly without any significant structural issues, thanks to the close discussions and cooperation among all parties involved.
He also revealed that the Sarawak government is currently drafting a mechanism to upgrade former logging roads throughout the State, which were previously classified as village roads.
He said this move is crucial to ensure more effective maintenance of these roads with larger allocations, including funding from the Malaysian Road Records Information System (MARRIS).
“Once upgraded to State roads, we can use a larger allocation for maintenance. This is important because rural residents widely use these former logging roads for daily access,” he explained.
He further said that so far, the government has held dialogues with elected representatives to identify priorities for repairing damaged bridges and roads, and they are now in the process of presenting a paper to the State Cabinet for approval. — DayakDaily
