Pelagus rep explains delay in Sungai Baleh bridge to Rumah Belaja road project
KAPIT: Pelagus assemblyman Wilson Nyabong has explained why there is a delay in the construction of the RM50-million 8.4km road to link Sungai Baleh Bridge to Rumah Belaja at Nanga Benin.
The project falls under Phase 1, Section 2 of the Road Infrastructure Project in Pelagus/ Baleh from Baleh Bridge/Rumah Belaja, Nanga Benin/SK Nanga Pelagus/Pelagus Resort.
Speaking at an event to hand out compensation to landowners affected by the project recently,
he said a contractor had been appointed to carry out the project according to specifications by a consultant but was unable to proceed in certain sections of the proposed road due to the unwillingness of certain landowners to give consent unless they “see money first”.
He said he had to set the matter straight as there had been accusations that the presence of heavy machinery at the project site was for show only in view of the impending state election.
“I tell the truth. Accusations on social media said this is because of the election. They tried to confuse the people to vote against the GPS government. But, actually they don’t understand the real problem on the ground. Today the government pays the land owners for that stretch of road. If they didn’t object, the contractor would have started the road. The machines were there many months ago. This is the true fact why the road project was delayed,” he explained. He believed that most of those who made the accusations were not from Kapit.
“They never know how hard living in the longhouse is,” he said.
He pointed out that the government had no intention of not paying land and crop compensation but certain landowners refused to give way unless they are paid first, forcing the contractor to move their machinery to other areas that allowed them access.
“The land owners refused to give way to the contractor. They said ‘pay first. That is why the road project is delayed. The contractor has two projects, one at Sungai
Bena and the other at Nanga Pelagus. After they deployed their machinery at Nanga Pelagus, they wanted to start working but the land owners said ‘no’.
“Then they decided to pull out all the machinery from Pelagus to bring to Nanga Bena, mobilizing all the resources there. In Nanga Bena no objection, the people allowed the contractor to start the construction while waiting for land compensation. It was paid early last month (Oct),” said Nyabong.