AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: The group is doing its level best to minimise the inconveniences faced by the public when driving through the construction site and hope that people will appreciate the he challenges of mobilising large equipment.
Kuching: The Jalan Song-Jalan Tun Jugah flyover project in Kuching is ahead of schedule, the contractor PN Construction Sdn Bhd (PN Construction) confirmed yesterday.
Following an open tender exercise, the government had awarded the contract for the flyover at the busy intersection for a contract period of 24 months, commencing on 17 March this year.
In spite of challenges including the limited buffer zone available at the tight junction and the heavy task of multiple utilities diversions and re-locations, the project is currently four per cent ahead of its contract schedule.
PN Construction’s project manager Jimeno Jerusalem Abdullah said his company was professionally executing the works in accordance with the government’s stipulated programme
and he was somewhat bewildered at the amount of misguided reporting on the project.
“I read in the newspaper, that we had no project signboards, but we put up 4.2 metre by 3.5 metre signs at both ends of the project site and they have been in place for more than six months; since the first day we commenced work.
“People say we have no supervisors or engineers and no site office, but this is simply untrue,” he said. According to him, the group has a large skilled workforce on site including professional engineers and project managers.
“Our supervisory team is here every day, but we have a two kilometres stretch to cover and we are not standing around waiting to entertain visitors,” he added.
As for the heavy traffic at peak times, Jimeno pointed out that the intersection was notorious for being jammed prior to construction commencing and that was why the project was mooted in the first place.
Traffic congestion, he said was inevitable when works were in progress, but this temporary pain was for a long-term gain and soon the public would enjoy a freer flow of traffic.
“We understand the urgency of the works and we are striving for early completion. However our priority has to be on producing quality construction to ensure a permanent improvement in our city’s infrastructure for generations to come,” he said.
The project manager also sought to correct misconceptions on machinery idling or work not being done at night. He explained that there were two reasons excavators may be on stand-by during the day.
Firstly, they were presently used mostly for night work such as pipe laying and secondly, there were extra units positioned on either side of the road so as to avoid disruptive crossing of the road which interrupted traffic.
He noted that work was carried out at night when deemed safe and/or when it might create excessive obstacles to road users if performed during the day.
As for lighting, the contractor noted that the scope of works was determined by the authorities and did not include overhead flood lighting for the site. In the meantime, the company had provided LED signal lighting and flashing warning lights at traffic level.
“We are constantly monitoring safety and progress on site and if you check with our client (Jabatan Kerja Raya), I am confident that they will confirm we are performing our contract obligations to a high standard,” noted Jimeno.
PN Construction also announced that there was a project hotline (012-8866326) and members of the public could call at any time if they had comments or queries. “It is a high traffic, high profile intersection and I urge members of the public to be patient and to drive cautiously during the construction period,” he said.