KUCHING, April 10: The Public Works Department (JKR) has released a chronology of events leading up to the construction of a new wooden jetty in Kampung Mutap, Bekenu in response to allegations that its RM50,000 price tag was not justified.
According to JKR in a post and statement uploaded to its ‘Corporate Communication JKR Sarawak’ Facebook earlier tonight, the jetty is a Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) project and the cost estimation was based on JKR Sarawak’s Schedule of Rate for the year 2020 with the rate of RM9,000 per metre cube for the belian timber used for construction, which is also lower than market rate.
The estimation also took into account the difficulty in accessing the site which is by plantation road, logistics and safety concerns as the area is infested with crocodiles.
JKR explained that its proposal to build a steel jetty was rejected by the village head as steel cost more compared to belian timber and therefore, would result in a smaller jetty.
Instead, the village chief requested that a 30-metre-long jetty be built complete with a wooden ‘pondok’ (shelter). However, JKR informed the ketua kampung this was not possible due to the limited budget. Thus, the village chief agreed to let JKR design the jetty according to the allocated budget and would request more funds from the local elected representative to carry out a second phase for the project.
According to JKR, the ‘cabut undi’ to select the contractor was held on Nov 20, 2021 and overseen by the Miri Resident and other committee members, and the contract was awarded to Bukit Balat Company.
The letter of award was issued on Feb 21, 2022, with the contract to commence on March 7, 2022 and completion due by June 6, 2022.
The site was handed over to the contractor on Feb 28, 2022. The jetty was completed on April 6, 2022 and inspected by both JKR Miri and the village chief who were satisfied with the work. The belian jetty was then handed over to the village chief.
The recently completed wooden jetty project in Kampung Mutap Bekenu has become a viral subject on social media following allegations it was not constructed according to its allocated budget.
Photos of the completed 15-metre-long wooden jetty have gone viral on social media with netizens expressing their shock over the outcome of the project which cost RM50,000.
On a Facebook post dated April 8, JKR uploaded images of the completed project. As of 11.30pm today, the post has received more than 9,000 comments and been shared more than 5,300 times. Many comments from users on the post described the project’s cost as too expensive compared to the end result. — DayakDaily
