Dr Wong (centre) and others during a press conference.
SARIKEI: The people of Sarikei must be very disappointed over the proposed Sarikei-Tanjung Manis Road for what looked like a foregone conclusion.
Repok assemblyman Dr Wong Hua Seh, during a press conference at Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) branch office here yesterday, said it was most regrettable that the project which was promised by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during his visit here before the last general election, was not going to be delivered any time soon.
During that visit, Muhyidin had announced an allocation of RM45 million to upgrade the pipeline road to link Sarikei to Tanjung Manis from Bukit Hwang area, he recalled.
Since the announcement of the good news by the DPM, Wong said he had kept on reminding the state government of the proposed project during Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) sittings, but unfortunately it did not receive due attention from the parties concerned.
“It goes to show that even the words coming directly from the mouth of the deputy prime minister cannot be taken seriously,” he lamented.
He was made to understand that the fund for the project had instead been reallocated for the implementation of a six-km road from Sungai Sian, opposite Bintangor town to Sibu-Tanjung Manis Road and for upgrading of ferry ramps on both banks of the river, Wong claimed.
The change of project would not in any way appease Sarikei people because the proposed Sarikei-Tanjung Manis road was just an 18-km link up between the two places whereas the travelling distant between the two places via Sibu-Tanjung Manis road is about 70 km, he said.
As the proposed project was not fulfilled, Sarikei remains in a disadvantageous position both economically and strategically, added Wong who is still hopeful that the link road between Sarikei and Tanjung Manis would materialize in the future.