BINTULU: A bridge project which will see travel distance from town to the airport cut from 25km to 10km once completed is coming along despite a slight delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas who inspected the latest the Bintulu-Jepak Bridge construction was pleased to learn that it is now 49.31 per cent complete.
He said work progress was now 0.66 per cent ahead of the initial target of 48.65 per cent.
“Despite the Covid-19 issue and earlier labour challenges, the project’s progress is currently pretty good,” he said, confident all arising problems can be overcome.
“We discussed how we can ascertain this bridge could be completed by October 30, 2024 or earlier,” he told the media after being briefed on the project, here on today (March 4).
Public Works Department (PWD) Unit Head (Coastal & Second Trunk Road Unit) Roland Ting , PWD Assistant Engineer Bintulu Division (Development) Dayang Malinda, Administrative Officer at the Bintulu Resident’s Office Mohd Amirul Abdullah @ Valentine Laiseh were among those present.
The Bintulu-Jepak Bridge is among the projects supervised by the Coastal Second Trunk Road Unit (CSTRU) with a contract value of RM466,679,497 and implemented by PPES Works-CCCC JV Sdn Bhd.
Its launching was officiated by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg during the Sarawak Day celebrations in Bintulu on July 22, 2019.
Work in fact commenced on April 3, 2019 and it was to have been completed in 48 months at the end of this year.
The execution of the project was however delayed because of the movement control order (MCO) brought on by the spread of the pandemic.
Besides reducing travel distance to the airport, it is also expected to lead to rapid development in the Jepak area and coastal regions once completed.
