KOTA SAMARAHAN, April 26: Traffic jam woes along the Samarahan-Kuching Highway will soon be a thing of the past once the two-lane Jalan Datuk Mohammad Musa from the roundabout all the way to Mile 7 is upgraded to four lanes.
When met, caretaker Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said although no exact completion date and cost figures were available on hand, his ministry had been tasked to implement the project.
“My ministry has been tasked to implement the upgrading works on Jalan Datuk Mohammad Datuk Musa, to widen its current two lanes to four lanes beginning from the roundabout near Salcra all the way to Mile 7.
“This would give options to road users from Kota Samarahan heading to the city and divert traffic to ease the Samarahan-Kuching jam,” he told a press conference after a working visit to the Institute for Rural Advancement (INFRA) Sarawak Campus here this morning.
Meanwhile, Kota Samarahan incumbent Rubiah Wang provided an update on the progress of the rebuilding of SK St Martin here, saying it had begun with initial works carried out since last month.
The school now renamed to SK Merdang would have 18 classrooms and is expected to be completed within 18 to 24 months.
“The project is being carried out by the Ministry of Education,” said Rubiah, adding that she had no cost figures at hand.
On another note, Fadillah said the Batang Samarahan bridge was due to be completed by the end of May this year.
He said although according to the contract it was scheduled to be completed in June this year, work was ahead of schedule and his ministry estimates the RM93 million bridge could be completed by the end of May 2018.
On the INFRA Sarawak Campus, completion had been slightly delayed due to technical difficulties, Fadillah added.
He said the first issue was on the land plot and architects had to redesign some of the buildings.
“The second delay was caused by the supplying of electricity from Sarawak Energy as well as the bad weather, so the contractor had applied for another extension.
“Although initially this facility was suppose to be completed today, after the extension it is scheduled to be completed in June 2018,” he said.
Fadillah pointed out that the facility needed to be completed soon before the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development starts carrying out its diploma programmes at the campus in September this year.
He said the ministry would need some time before September to lay out plan and to settle down before the campus would be fully operational.
The RM55.6 million facility is the second INFRA Campus in Malaysia after Bangi, Selangor. Once completed, it would provide skills training at certificate and diploma level for community leaders and Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) members in the state.
The Kota Samarahan campus would be able to accomodate about 250 trainees at its hostel complex at one time. — DayakDaily
