This Content Is Only For Subscribers
By Lian Cheng and Shikin Louis
KUCHING, July 14: Sarawak, together with the Federal Territory and Selangor are the top three states in Malaysia with the highest value of construction works.
Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg however pointed out that Sarawak has a much smaller population than both the Federal Territory and Selangor.
He said Sarawak has accounted for 12 per cent of the total national construction works value despite taking up only 8.5 per cent of the nation’s population.
“It trails behind only the Federal Territory (17 per cent of total national construction works value) and Selangor (24 per cent) which has populations of 25 per cent and 20 per cent of the total population, respectively,” said Abang Johari.
Over the last 32 months since 2021, the construction works value for Sarawak averages RM3.45 billion per quarter against the national average of 29 billion per quarter, he added.
He pointed out that demand for cement in Sarawak has surged due to ongoing projects including major infrastructure projects that are ongoing such as Pan Borneo Highway, the Coastal Road, Second Trunk Road, Sarawak-Sabah Link Road, Trans Borneo Highway and the many projects under 10 development agencies such as Highland Development Agency, Northern Region Development Agency and Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.
As RM1.5 billion has been allocated to each agency for infrastructure development for three years, he said, it was a total amount of RM12 billion.
Earlier this year, Sarawak’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Ports Development received a list of 92 infrastructure projects worth RM1.092 billion from the federal government.
“I understand this one will increase because our border development which the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has allocated RM1 billion, meaning another billion, roughly RM3 billion,” said Abang Johari during the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Innocement Sdn Bhd with SCG International and YTL Cement Berhad held at Grand Margherita Hotel here today.
Amongst those present were Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas; Deputy Minister of International Trade and Investment (MINTRED) Datuk Dr Malcolm Mussen Lamoh; Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain; YTL Cement Berhad director Joshua Yeoh; managing director Dato Sri Michael Yeoh; Innocement Sdn Bhd chairman Datu Dr Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel; chief executive officer Suhadi Sulaiman; Siam Cement Group (SCG) executive vice president Thammasak Sethaudom; and SCG International managing director Abhijit Datta. — DayakDaily
