KUCHING: BN-SUPP candidate for Bandar Kuching Tan Kai has advised his opponent Chong Chieng Jen from DAP to stop being ridiculous by telling voters that Pakatan Rakyat can complete the Pan Borneo highway in five years.
He said Chong should do his homework before making further claims like Pakatan would engage 80 contractors to complete the 2,500km highway. “I do not think YB Chong knows the construction industry here. You have to find 80 contractors, which is not so easy. Even if you can find 80 contractors, where do you get the construction materials like gravels and stones within a short period of time?
“You also need to think whether contractors here have sufficient machinery. Chong may say they can bring in contractors from west Malaysia, but we want the project for Sarawak contractors,” he told a press conference at the SUPP headquarters here yesterday.
Tan, who is also SUPP Youth chief, insisted that there was no way Pakatan could complete the highway within the next five years.
“Talking is very easy. Do not try to fool me as I am an engineer.”
On BN’s manifesto, he said they committed to “building a 2,300km Pan Borneo Highway stretching from Sematan, Sarawak to Serudung, Sabah in the next five years, and not completing.
“We only commit to building, but they promised to complete the highway in the next five years, which is ridiculous.”
Tan, also an MBKS councillor, stressed that a highway project should not be deemed as simple as a grass-cutting job.
“A highway construction is not like cutting grass in MBKS areas where the council can divide into zones to engage many contractors to deliver the job.”