SITE VISIT: Zaki (second left) and Ismail (third left) being briefed during a site visit to Marudi.
MARUDI: The long-awaited Miri-Marudi road which is expected to be completed by February next year will have a huge impact on economic transformation and rural development.
In pointing this out, Ministry of Defence secretary-general Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad said the RM100 million road-upgrading project would also benefit frequent road users travelling from Miri to Marudi and vice-versa.
“The project is under our ‘Jiwa Murni’ road upgrading programme, where we aim to provide better roads to the people in Sarawak,” he said after a site visit to Marudi yesterday.
Ismail added that the project encountered a few challenges, including bad weather and soil conditions, which slightly affected its progress.
“Apart from that, over-loaded lorries passing through this road also had bad impact on the road structure. Hopefully, we can do something about this in the near future,” he said.
He also said the ministry would continue to bring more development to the state and help it develop further, adding that it would build another bridge at Sungai Arang Marudi in addition to the four already built there.
Also present was First Division Commander Major General Datuk Mohd Zaki Mokhtar.
The group will be leaving for Ba Kelalan tomorrow to see the progress of other ‘Jiwa Murni’ projects there.