Rescue Contractors Living Up to Expectations: Uggah

SERIAN: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah is relieved that rescue contractors, who have taken charge of several ‘sick projects’, are now showing promising dedication to their revival efforts.

He visited three such projects on Saturday, two of them being the 6.3 kilometer new single carriageway connecting Jalan Kampung Tanjung Bako and Jalan Kuching/ Samarahan Highway on the Sarawak Coastal Road in Samarahan and the 5.7 km new two-lane single carriageway approach road to the Batang Lupar bridge 1 in Sebuyau.

The third project is the upgrading work on the 14.9 km Jalan Padawan (Phase 1) in the Serian Division.

Speaking after inspecting the Padawan Road project, he said rescue contractors are continuing with the remaining construction or upgrading works on the three projects.

“The previous contractors had their contracts terminated due to their failure to deliver as scheduled. I am pleased to note the new contractors are doing their jobs as scheduled.

“I hope they will continue with their momentum.We cannot afford to have projects being delayed. When projects are approved and implemented, the people expect them to be completed on time. The government too shares the same expectation,” he said.

Uggah who is also Infrastructure and Port Development Minister said the original contractors faced problems which ultimately led to them being replaced.

“We will continue to closely monitor all projects statewide which had been awarded to rescue contractors,” he added.

On the Batang Lupar bridge 1 approach road, he said this was a very critical component.

“What we do not want to see is that the bridge is completed but not the road. So we had a good discussion with its new contractor.

“There were some issues but apparently they have been resolved and now it is for the JKR and the contractor  to work out the critical path analysis to ensure it can be completed.

“We had agreed to work on a timeline for the RM107.5 million road to be completed first….hopefully by November 2025. This is because we are looking at the plan for the bridge to be ready a month later (December 2025). Then by January 2026,  we can open the bridge for public use,” Uggah pointed out.

On the RM106.968 million carriageway connecting Jalan Kampung Tanjung Bako and Jalan Kuching/ Samarahan Highway, on the Sarawak Coastal Road, Uggah said it was handed over to its new contractor on August 8, 2023.

He said it was expected to be completed by early February, 2026 with the project now 5.2 per cent done against its current schedule of 4.55 per cent.

On the Padawan Road upgrading works (Phase 1), he said the new contractor had just taken over the project on February 16 , 2024.

“We hope for it to be completed by August 15 , 2026,” said Uggah.