By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, March 25: The public is reminded that they are not allowed to plant crops on the shoulder of public roads because it is both a road reserve and state land.
Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) Group chief executive officer (CEO) Dato Isaac Lugun said although road builders and contractors had the right to bulldoze the crops to make way for development, it was still “a sensitive” issue and had to be handled on a case-by-case basis.
“Of course, we can’t allow those crops to hinder improvements to the roads,” he told a press conference after the launching of Performance-Based Contracts (PBC) Workshop at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here this morning.
PBC was introduced by the World Bank and is widely used in developed countries for the preservation and maintenance of road assets. It is the preferred model because contractors are only paid upon achieving predetermined performance indicators or KPIs. As such, better quality and more durable roads will be delivered.
Meanwhile, Lugun assured that CMS would strive to ensure roads under its scope of contract would be repaired, upgraded and built well above the standards set in the contract.
“CMS is proud to play an important role in maintaining nearly 20 per cent of roads in the state. CMS has continuously improved its performance as evidenced by the independently verified Road Maintenance Index,” he said in his speech.
Lugun told those present that CMS had over 800 dedicated Sarawakians across the state, meaning it has the capacity to respond to short notices involving incidents on roads under its care. — DayakDaily
