By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Nov 29: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang calls on the federal government to speed up the construction of the stretch from Mile 4 to Mile 10 of Kuching-Serian Road.
He said despite multiple complaints, the progress of the construction was still very slow and more importantly, several minor accidents have occurred due to the lack of road safety measures.
“People living along this Kuching-Serian Road have been suffering. Due to the lack of safety measures, there have been quite a few minor accidents.
“The construction of the road has been causing nuisance and inconvenience to the people of Padawan area,” he told DayakDaily today.
Having received many complaints and voicing out his concerns numerous times, Lo however pointed out that the progress of the construction did not seem to have picked up.
“Honestly, I don’t have the confident that, at this rate, the project will be completed as scheduled, which is on August 2020 or another 10 months,” he added.
Apart from asking the federal government to speed up the construction of the road which involved four flyovers at 4th, 6th, 7th and 10th Mile, Lo also urged contractors to install safety warnings to minimise road accidents.
“I use the road everyday and it takes me one hour to go from 3rd Mile to the office at Padawan at peak hours. And when it rains, it means one and a half hours on the road,” he shared.
Lo, who is also Batu Kitang assemblyman, also questioned whether the slow progress of the road project could be the result of federal government’s cutting down the allocation for Pan Borneo Highway.
“Why does the federal government has to cut back on the allocation for the Pan Borneo Highway when Sarawak is contributing RM250 million daily from our oil and gas, which means RM92 billion every year?
“What is RM16 billion compares to RM92 billion per year? If Sarawak can keep all the RM92 billion, we don’t have to beg the federal government for any fund at all,” he reiterated.
Meanwhile, Lo also wondered if the termination of Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd (LBU), which comprised of all local contractors, was a wise thing to do.
“Why should we get Peninsular Malaysian contractors to do the job?
“It is a frustrating situation for us that the only big project federal government has for Sarawak is the Pan Borneo Highway while we are contributing so much to the national coffers.
“Then, we have a federal minister and a deputy minister insisting that Sarawak will go bankrupt in three years time but at the same time, they cut down here and there including reducing the project cost for Pan Borneo Highway,” he added.— DayakDaily
