Nearly half of coastal roads completed

KUCHING, Wed. - Nearly half of the 1,167-kilometre Sarawak Coastal Road Network from Sematan in Lundu to Bakam in Miri have been completed, Minister for Infrastructure Development and Communications Datuk Wong Soon Koh said today.

He said 39 percent had been sealed.

The estimated RM1.6 billion coastal road network is a major coastal road project being built to complement the existing First Trunk Road.

Officiating at the contract signing ceremony for the construction of Triso/Melebu/ Pusa, Sri Aman Road here, Wong said the government will continue to accelerate the construction of coastal roads in the Eighth Malaysia Plan in its endeavour to promote socio-economic growth and improve the standards of living of the riverine communities.

This is also in line with the vision to make Sarawak a developed state by 2020, in tandem with the other states in Malaysia.

Wong said four stretches of the coastal road network are poised for completion between 2003 and 2005.

They are the 50km Triso / Meludam / Pusa Road, the 65km Tg Kidurong / K Suai / K Niah / Sibuti / Bakam Road, the 35km Pusa / Sessang Road and the 30km Selalang / Tanjong Manis Road.

A large percentage of the State's population is located along the coastal areas which have been lagging behind in terms of economic development for quite sometime.

In the past, the primary mode of communication between these towns and between them and the major urban centres was by water transport which is greatly subject to the vagaries of weather.

Wong said the coastal road construction started in 1986 and has since continued as a top priority in the Seventh and now the Eighth Malaysian Plans.

On the construction of Triso/Pusa, Sri Aman Road to be undertaken by PPES Works (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Wong said the projects covering 50km of road is expected to be completed in 36 months.

Datu Robert Voon, the Director of the State Public Works Department signed on behalf of the government while PPES Works (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd was represented by its Chairman Haji Talib Zulpilip.

With the signing of the agreement, PPES Works will carry out survey, investigation, design and construction of Triso/Melebu/Pusa Road in Sri Aman Division.

The RM127.5 million project is funded by both the Federal Government (RM130 million) and the State Government (RM88.55 million).

It involves the construction of 50km of road linking the coastal villages of Triso and Melebu, and including Maludam, Beladin and Sapinang, to Pusa town.

Along the route will be 12 bridges. There is also a ferry crossing at the Batang Saribas so as to gain direct access to Pusa town on the other bank of the river.

Stage One works of the project were completed during the Sixth Malaysia Plan.

It consisted of preparing the road embankment and drainage structures including completion of two concrete bridges over Sg Batu and Sg Maludam.

Stage Two works will now consist of the bitumen-sealing of the whole road and construction of the remaining 10 bridges, as well as the ferry ramps at Btg Saribas, he said.

Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd Group Executive Director, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib in his speech said the project is divided into four packages.

They are namely, Package A from Triso to Maludam through Sg Melebu (approximately 16.7km), Package B from Maludam to Sapinang (approximately 14km), Package C from Sapinang to Pusa (approximately 19km) and Package D, a ferry ramp at Batang Saribas.

"With the wide experience in road construction complemented by a team of motivated professionals, PPES Works will once again live up to its reputation of a contractor that delivers project on time, within budget and of high quality," he said.

Mindful of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the impending implementation of Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA), Sulaiman said PPES Works is taking steps to rationalise its construction operations.

"We are putting in place inhouse capabilities and systems that, will improve the manner we handle project implemention. We will leverage on information technology to increase our efficiency and productivity and to give us an edge over the competition," he said.

Among the various federal and state-financed construction and engineering projects undertaken by PPES Works are the Sg Sarawak Regulation Scheme, the Kuching Outer Ring Road, the Miri Water Supply Scheme, the Tubau-Bakun Road and the Satok flyover.-BP