Sibu-Tg Manis road to be ready by end of March

ON TRACK: Wong (fourth right) accompanied by Goh (third right), PWD Sibu divisional engineer Vincent Tang (second right) and others, inspect the construction and upgrading of Sibu/Tg Manis Road (from Persiaran Brooke to Ling Chu Ming Road).

by Peter Boon. Posted on January 29, 2011, Saturday

SIBU: The construction and upgrading of Sibu/Tg Manis Road (from Persiaran Brooke to Ling Chu Ming Road) is back on track and scheduled for completion by end of March.

Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh disclosed yesterday that the shortage of stones and to a lesser extent, premix (bitumen) had delayed the project.
“The project was supposed to be completed by end of last year. Unfortunately, it was delayed and I know people are not too happy about it.”
He assured that things were returning to normal, and that the actual progress was 80 per cent completion.
The many National Key Result Areas (NKRA) projects towards the end of last year had also affected the supply of materials.
Wong, who is also Minister of Environment and Public Health, said: “The contractor is doing his best and we have asked him to speed up the completion but the shortage of stones and, to some extent, shortage of premix had delayed it.”
“As such, we hope members of the public understand and hopefully, the project can be completed by end of March.”
The 8.5km stretch of road, costing RM25 million, would have other utilities such as traffic lights and street lights.
Wong revealed that the project came about following requests from Pelawan assemblyman Vincent Goh.
The minister said the vast development, particularly housing development in Teku areas and others called for the road to be built.
The state government had consented to it and the road would materialise with the help of Public Works Department (PWD) and the federal government.
With Kolej Laila Taib (KLT) in the vicinity and being part of Tg Manis Road, Wong anticipated the road would be bustling with activity.
Earlier, Wong said they were asking for lands from the state government to build Chinese and missionary schools.
The state government recently announced an allocation of 2,000 hectares for Chinese independent schools.
“We will appeal to the state government for the same purpose for Chinese and missionary schools,” he said.