(From left) Dr Richard and Uggah admiring freshly harvested ginger.
SPAOH: The Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development (MIPD) received the list of 92 various infrastructure federal projects costing RM1.092 billion.
According to its minister cum Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, the list was submitted following the federal government’s decision earlier this year to allow Sarawak to implement federal projects RM50 million and below.
He added that of the said projects, 87 were received by the state Public Works Department (PWD), and five by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID).
“Moreover, both departments have also been recognised as technical departments by the federal government recently which will allow them to manage the projects without having to refer to their Putrajaya offices.
“As a matter of fact, our PWD is now working out its standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure the projects entrusted to it can be completed properly and on time.
“It is absolutely critical that both PWD and DID can deliver on schedule because Sarawak has been requesting for this implementation autonomy under the Treasury Instructions (AP 182) for all federal projects in the state,” he said.
He said this when met by the media after attending a briefing on development project plans and implementation in his constituency (Bukit Saban) here yesterday.
Following this, he said that the state was in the midst of preparing and looking at the manpower requirements of the PWD in every division in order to cope up with the additional responsibilities.
“We will be having a meeting in Miri next Tuesday to get feedback from them and their preparedness to implement.
“Our objective is very clear. We want to complete the projects as scheduled. If we can accomplish this successfully, it will prove we have the capability both in terms of manpower and technical knowhow.
“This will be in accordance with the trust given to us under the AP 182,” he said.
During the same day, Uggah visited a ginger garden belonging to 10 families at Rumah Desmond Sujang at Engkerebai while accompanied by Betong MP Dr Richard Rapu.
