MP sad Padawan Road upgrading project cancelled

KUCHING: Puncak Borneo member of Parliament Willie Mongin is upset when he found out that the proposed Padawan Road upgrading project was cancelled two years ago.

He said he had asked Deputy Minister of Rural Development R Sivarasa in Parliament the status of the road upgrading project, that was announced by the previous federal government, whether allocation has been approved and when it would be implemented.

However, parliament was informed that the project was cancelled by the Barisan Nasional ( BN) government on April 15, 2016.

“Ironically, none of the previous Sarawak BN leaders, now Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), have made public announcement of the cancellation, especially to people in Puncak Borneo, specifically the Padawan area.

“Also, there was no objection from BN leaders against the decision of the Value Management Lab or any efforts made to submit their appeal and justification to sustain or reconsider the project,” Willie said.

He, however, said he had appealed, in his supplementary question, for the project to be reviewed.

According to him, the Ministry of Rural Development had agreed that he should submit an official appeal request and justification for their consideration.

“I am sorry that this project has been cancelled.

“But, I am committed to make an official appeal to the relevant ministry because I consider this project as important for the people in the area in the long run,” he said.

According to answers from the Ministry of Rural Development, the Padawan Road upgrading project was approved under the Rolling Plan 1 ( 2016) of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11MP) with an allocation of RM75 million.

The proposed project to upgrade 34km of road and a width of six metres, was approved following the announcement made by former deputy prime minister on Feb 12, 2015.

However, the project was cancelled on the advice of Value Management Laboratory on April 11-15, 2016. The lab comprised Economic Planning Unit ( EPU), Ministry of Rural Development, Sarawak Public Works Department, Sarawak Planning Unit (SPU), Department of Drainage and Irrigation ( DID) Sarawak, Padawan Municipal Council, Padawan District Office, Sarawak Land and Survey Department, Resident Office and other related agencies.

The laboratory said there was no urgent need to upgrade the road as the whole road alignment was in good condition. Also, the road has been registered under Malaysian Highway Records Information System (Marris) with financial allocation channeled by the Ministry of Finance ( MoF) to Sarawak government for maintenance purposes.