BINTULU: Deputy Works Minister Datuk Yong Khoon Seng led a delegation from his ministry to inspect the Kidurong road, the road leading to Samalaju Chiyoda Camp and a few dangerous stretches along the Bintulu-Miri coastal highway on Tuesday.
Among those accompanying him were senator Datuk Pau Chiong Ung and Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
According to Pau, during a meeting earlier, the deputy minister took note of the drastic increase in heavy traffic along the new coastal highway which justified the urgent need for its expansion.
They also inspected a few stretches that were susceptible to traffic congestion such as Nyabau-Kidurong traffic junction and areas near the Daiken MDF factory.
Several ‘sick’ projects in Bintulu were also identified and discussed for immediate action during the meeting; namely the construction of Bintulu Chemistry Department and Bintulu Prison.
Meanwhile, Tiong expressed concern that local contractors always seemed to be sidelined as big contracts were given to contractors from the Peninsular, leaving local contractors as subcontractors.
“Bintulu has long experienced big projects but all local contractors become the victims,” said Tiong, referring to the construction of previous gigantic projects in Bintulu.
He told the deputy minister to look into the matter seriously and not let it happen again during the upcoming projects.
He said there was no reason why the contracts were given to Peninsular Malaysian companies as local contractors were equally capable and competent to handle the projects.
On another matter, Tiong urged the government to step in to resolve the Bintulu prison project issue as the subcontractors did not want to hand over the keys, claiming that they were not paid by the main contractor.
In another development, Yong said Public Works Department (PWD) had proposed to build a new three-lane road to Samalaju at a cost of RM144 million to mitigate the heavy traffic flow there.
Others in the delegation were PWD deputy director Philip Ng, Bintulu divisional engineer Wisel Lichok and officers from Bintulu Development Authority, Resident’s and District Office.