Jonathan Law from project consultant Konsortium Malaysia briefing Nanta and other stakeholders on the alignment of the road project.
KUCHING (Sept 10): The federal-funded access road project linking the Baram hydro dam and Tunoh area in Kapit is now in the conceptual engineering design stage, said Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
The Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and Kapit MP said the 38km-long road, when completed, would benefit residents of 12 settlements or longhouses.
“Currently, they (villagers) have to use the river or logging road to go to Kapit town and this is not only long trip but also costly,” he told a press conference held after closing the project stakeholders’ engagement session at the LCDA auditorium at The Isthmus here.
Nanta, who is Upper Rajang Development Authority (Urda) chairman taking over from former Sarawak Deputy Premier the late Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, said he is thankful to Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) for taking the initiative to hold the session to allow stakeholders, including Urda, relevant government agencies and community leaders to share views and information on the project.
“Both the federal and state governments are concerned in ensuring that people, especially those in rural and remote areas, can enjoy the best infrastructural development. Development is important to ensure that residents in these areas are not left behind from mainstream development but can enjoy various facilities,” said Nanta.
“Therefore, I would also like to thank the Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and the state government for allocating a total of RM1.5 billion to Recoda to implement 42 infrastructure projects in the Urda area. This allocation is one of Sarawak state government’s proactive efforts to accelerate development there,” he pointed out.
In addition to that, under the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK12), the federal government had also provided an allocation to Recoda to plan and implement three high-impact projects in the Kapit area, he added.
Apart from the access road to Tunoh, the other two federal projects would be the construction of an access road linking Samarakan, Sangan and Nanga Merit to Kapit (phase II) and the access road to Baleh Dam.
Recoda has completed the master plan for Bakun, Kapit and Belaga, Nanta said.
This master plan, he added, will certainly help the government agencies involved to plan and implement their projects more systematically, especially in the government’s efforts to develop border areas.
“All these show that the government is always looking ahead and preparing with a long-term plan to develop the Urda area in order to improve the living or socio-economic standards of the people now and that of the future generations,” said Nanta.
On Bukit Mabong, being a new district, Nanta said most parts of it are not yet covered with basic facilities such as water and electricity supply and road network.
Therefore, he added, the construction of the proposed Tunoh access road will certainly be a game changer or catalyst to boost socio-economic development and other basic facilities in the area and its surroundings.
“The government also should ensure that this project is to be carried out as soon as possible for the sake of the betterment of the residents in Tunoh and also to improve their living standards.
“With the existence of this access road, the travel time and movement of people and the transport of goods can be drastically reduced, while providing more comfortable road facilities for all parties,” he added.
Meanwhile, Recoda CEO Datu Ismawi Ismuni thanked the federal government for agreeing to finance the cost of implementing the access road project.
“For information, this project has been planned for a long time. Our engagement session today is very important for us to hear insightful views from all of you to enable us to draft good proposals to implement this project,” he said.
“We hope that after this session, Recoda will be able to finalise this project proposal to be presented to the federal government to enable the construction of this project to be implemented immediately,” he added.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3x9PEEk
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