Sungai Tabuan Bridge No. 2, which spans 150m in length and has three traffic lanes, was opened to the public yesterday. Built at a cost of RM54 million, the project, which was carried out by the Public Works Deopartment (JKR), also involved upgrading Tabuan Melayu Road and an overhead bridge.

"The whole project is expected to be completed by the end of this year to ease heavy traffic congestion in that area which is also part of an outer ring road to Sama Jaya Industrial Zone and Isthmus," said Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communications Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong yesterday.

The project, which started on Feb 17 2010, was now about 85 per cent completed.  Manyin admitted that motorists using the RM213 million Isthmus bridge would face a bottleneck as the two-lane road had yet to be expanded due to the locality of an army depot.  He added that the state government had already bought over the land and was waiting for the military to move to their new depot in Samarahan sometime this year.

"That is beyond our Ministry and the contractorls control." On the Pending intersection, in front of Yoshi square, he said it would be opened to the public once the traffic lights were opertional.  On Mile 10-Mile 15 (junction to Jalan Datuk Musa) of the Kuching-Serian Road, Manyin said design for the expansion of the road had already been made and was now awaiting funds from the federal government.

"The whole 11km stretch is projected to cost RM70 million." On the use of state funds to build the roads, Manyin said it was only right for the federal government to 'give back' to Sarawak as the state had contributed much to its coffers in terms of tax and oil royalty.

"We must fight.  We are continually fighting for it (funds)."  He hoped Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor would hasten the needed allocations when he visits Kuching to open Sadong Bridge.

On another matter, Manyin said the federal government had approved the allocation to build a total of 10km of overtaking lanes along Miri-Bintulu-Sibu roads.

On the standard of roads in the state, Manyin said it was illogical to compare the roads here to those in the peninsula as they were built by private entities and with toll imposed.  He pointed out that the model could not be used here because traffice volume in the state was too small for private ventures to be successful.