BINTULU: The government has approved RM144 million to upgrade the busy Tanjung Kidurong Road that leads to Samalaju Industrial Park.
Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said the road was given priority status following feedback and complaints received from locals, especially those staying in Kidurong, and industry players in Samalaju.
He added that more than five kilometres of the road had been completed, costing RM16 million.
The road is actually under the state government, but his ministry was lending a helping hand because the area was located under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), which demanded good infrastructure.
“(In the long term) Approximately RM300 million will be needed to build the KM18 Tanjung Kidurong Road from four lanes to six lanes, including the flyover,” he told a press conference after a working visit to the site yesterday.
Fadilah said part of the RM144 million allocation was for the building of overtaking lanes in Kidurong Road and RM120 million to upgrade the junction of Kidurong Road to Samalaju, including the installation of traffic lights and expanding certain stretches from four lanes to six lanes.
“This hopefully can improve the areas. There are also a few other requests by the state JKR to upgrade the road and install traffic lights at the Nyabau junction and Tanjung Kidurong.”
Fadillah said a discussion was held with the secretary-general of his ministry and an allocation of RM743,000 had been approved to ensure the requests could be implemented immediately.
In addition to that, there is also an allocation of RM3.2 million to install culvert at KM4 in Medan Jaya. Construction work started last March 18 and is expected to be completed on Nov 26 this year. There is also a culvert at KM2 Kidurong Road costing RM3.2 million to tackle flooding and ease traffic congestion along the road.
“Sarawak JKR is doing short and medium term assessments of about five years, and for the long term there is a suggestion to see an overall design solution for KM18 Tanjung Kidurong Road.
“Several intersections have been proposed for the traffic lights installation and the need to have a flyover. They have requested financial allocation to conduct a thorough study on the need for a long term solution.”
Also present were Public Works Minister secretary-general Datuk Himmat Singh, state JKR director Zuraimi Sabki and JKR Bintulu engineer Wisil Licok.