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- A file photo of the bridge taken on Sept 18.
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- Street lamps have been installed along the bridge and the road has been tar-sealed.
KUCHING: The much-awaited Batang Sadong Bridge in Sadong Jaya is expected to be open to the public in two weeks’ time, not today as speculated on social media.
A spokesman of Public Works Department (JKR) said some final touches, minor rectifications and gazetting of this huge structure needed to be carried out before its opening to motorists.
“We leave it to Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof to announce the opening date, but we expect it to be in two weeks,” the spokesman said in response to reports, including those shared on Facebook, about the bridge – touted to be not only the longest in Sarawak, but also the longest to cross a river in Malaysia – would be open to the public today.
Moreover, a Works Ministry official also clarified that the bridge would likely be open only after Oct 15, upon the completion of minor rectification works on it based on comments by the Road Safety Auditor.
Minister in Prime Minister’s Department and Batang Sadong MP Datuk Nancy Shukri, who visited the site on Sept 18, had said that the bridge reached 99.5 per cent completion and thus, it should be fully operational this month.
The RM211.3-million Batang Sadong Bridge project was approved by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in 2011 during his visit to Batang Sadong constituency. Construction works commenced on July 5, 2012.
It has been reported that with the completion of the 1.48km bridge, a journey from Kuching to Sibu, for instance, would be shortened by two-and-half hours versus the present eight-hour journey.
Currently, motorists have to wait and queue up for the ferry in order to cross Batang Sadong.