Marine Department holds briefing on capital dredging works at Sarawak River
KUCHING: Marine Department Sarawak Region held a public briefing on the status of the capital dredging works at the Sarawak River for the benefit of stakeholders who are mostly shippers yesterday.
The briefing was held at the Kuching Port Authority ( KPA) Pending Terminal here, according to a press statement issued by KPA.
Project contractor Integrated Marine Works Sdn Bhd ( IMW) mentioned that works started in November 2017 and are due to complete in November 2019.
“Upon completion of the capital dredging, the river will have a channel length of 43 metres and draught of nine metres at low tide. This will enable bigger ships to avoid waiting time at anchorage for the high tide.
“Bigger ships will result in economies of scale in the carriage of cargo per voyage,” the statement said.
Present at the briefing were a representative from the state Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Transportation Mustapha Adenan, KPA chairman Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah, KPA board members Datuk Dr Wahbi Junaidi, Churchill Edward Drem, Nicholas Sia and Milton Foo Tiang Wee and KPA general manager Robert Lau.
Others present were Marine Department deputy directorgeneral Datuk Hazman Hussein, Marine Department state director Marzuki Brahim, IMW CEO Datuk Baijuri Besar and IMW project director Zaini Nor Mohamad as well as representatives from the Sarawak Rivers Board, related government agencies and consultant companies.