MARUDI: The RM77.4-million Marudi Road upgrading project is expected to take off in the first half of this year, but immediate works to improve the road condition have already started to cater for the heavy Chinese New Year traffic.
Responding to the request from Assistant Minister of Public Utilities Datuk Sylvester Entri, who is also Marudi assemblyman, CMS Roads Sdn Bhd, the contractor, started repairs on the road this month, particularly along the critical stretches.
Entri said this after a briefing on the road upgrading project at the Public Works Department (PWD) conference room here yesterday.
Permanent secretary to Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Communication Sari Zainuddin, CMS Group managing director Datuk Alexander John Curtis, head of Construction and Road Maintenance Lim Jit Yaw and a team of PWD engineers from Miri Division were present.
Entri disclosed that the road would not be totally closed during the repair works, clarifying that “The allegations of road closure in social media are totally false and cruel”.
He said it was wrong to level unfair accusations against the government on the poor state of the road which was carried out under the Jiwa Murni programme by the Ministry of Defence and approved by the Prime Minister.
“Without the Jiwa Murni project, there would be no Miri-Marudi road. Without this road, we would not have this upgrade to PWD standard,” he said.
He was alluding to criticisms of poor quality of the road, including flooding in certain stretches and the many potholes.
However, he said the people of Marudi were thankful to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem for approving the budget for the upgrading of the road.
Curtis said the company was serious in delivering a good road deserved by the people of Marudi and would strive to complete the project in good time.
Meanwhile, Sari said the steep slopes would be reduced to a gentle gradient and the project would include gantries as a barrier against overloaded lorries that could wreck the road.
The project is divided into immediate repairs under the intervention segment which includes sealing potholes and raising road level at flood-prone stretches which would take three months. Due to start in May this year, the whole project is expected to take 36 months to complete.
Earlier on, Entri and PWD and CMS officials drove all the way from Miri to inspect the condition of the road. -Borneo Post.
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