BACK IN PROGRESS: Martin (centre) listens to Jeffery (right) giving a briefing on the project. Seen (from left) are Cliff, Sandra and Chiresly.
SERIAN: A road connecting eight villages in Terbat-Mapu area to Mongkos and onward to Tebedu, which is home to about 1,000 people will finally be realized after a 15-year wait.
Work on the RM35 million, 8.39km road linking over 300 households started on July 9 and is set for completion by Jan 8, 2014.
Fifteen years after the earth-breaking ceremony the villagers are now assured that a proper tar-sealed road will finally reach their doorstep after going through so much delays and complications.
GOING SMOOTHLY: Work on the project progressing smoothly.
“We sympathise those who have waited so long for the road. It has been a long wait but now the fund is there and the work has finally started.
“Let’s forget the past and move on,” Kedup assemblyman Martin Ben told reporters after checking the progress of work at the site some 35 km from here.
The main contractor of the back-in-progress project is Naim Cendera.
Also present during the visit were district Public Works Department engineer Chiresly Francis Kureng, southern region resident engineer Indra Sakti Haron and Naim’s representatives – project manager Jeffery Dickson, project engineer Sandra Ligong and construction manager Cliff Mengut.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin officiated at the second earth-breaking ceremony of the project in April last year after it was finally given the nod to continue.
With the completion of the project in 17 months’ time, Martin said the Terbat-Mapu road would complete the Tebakang-Tebedu ring road. With it the tar-sealed road connectivity in Kedup constituency would reach 95 per cent of the population.
“All these have been achieved due to continuous development throughout the years. Road connectivity in Kedup is actually 100 per cent but around five per cent of these are still gravel roads. We hope that by the 11th MP, 100 per cent roads in Kedup will be tar-sealed,” he said.
Indra Sakti, meanwhile, said that work was currently ahead of schedule – at 6.02 per cent completion. He expected the project to be completed in time barring no other complications.
The Terbat-Mapu road project is divided into two sections- the first section from Terbat to Teragu spanning 7.0 km and the second section spanning 1.39 km from Mapu to Kijabu.
Earlier, Martin and Chiresly visited Mujat to inspect the site of a 300-metre road linking the village to Mujat-Mongkos Bridge which was completed in 2011.
The work would commence in a month or two. The second phase of the project would see the building of a three km road to connect the bridge (Mujat) to Mentu Pundok near Mongkos Bazaar.
The Kedup assemblyman also visited other development projects in his constituency.