KUCHING: One out of three complaints regarding road projects in Batu Kawa is valid though exaggerated while the other two are in respect of matters not within the work scope, said Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
He added that the complaints publicised by Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) involved the upgrading work of Jalan Kim Sing off Jalan Kim Choo Seng, upgrading work of Jalan Batu Kawa/Bau and the upgrading of Lorong 1 Jalan Sg Tapang (near SJK Chung Hua Sg Tapang Hilir).
“On the first project at Jalan Kim Sing off Jalan Kim Choo Seng, out of the whole 218 metres of road tarred under the project, a 10-metre stretch was found to be wavy.
“The officer reported that the 10-metre stretch was that portion of the road that failed the coring test conducted by the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) upon completion.
“The contractor was instructed to re-surface that part but the work was done manually. ICU has instructed the contractor to re-surface that 10-metre portion again.
“Upon my physical inspection on site, the steam roller was there and the second re-surfacing work will be carried out next week,” he told reporters after officiating at the Aeon Credit Back-To-School programme at Aeon Mall Kuching Sentral, yesterday.
On the second project involving the upgrading work of Jalan Batu Kawa/Bau, Chong mentioned that SUPP in its complaint showed a patch of road surface with new tar while the other part was not with uneven surface.
“The officer (involved in the project) reported that the patch shown by SUPP was not within the job specification. The upgrading work is only in respect of the lane branching off from the main road which was in the picture shown by the SUPP representative.
“As the contractor has extra tar after doing the job under my allocation, he (the officer), out of his goodwill try to patch up the bigger potholes on the main road,” he continued.
Elaborating on the third project involving the upgrading of Lorong 1 Jalan Sg Tapang, Chong said that the whole gravel road was 1km but there was only fund to do 150m which led the project to focus on the portion of the road which is on a steep slope ― out of fear for vehicles travelling up the road having the tendency to skid off the road.
“Given the danger that the gravel road going up the slope posed to road users, we, at the request of the residents, used the limited fund to prioritise the tarring of that part of the road,” he said, adding that SUPP’s picture was showing that part of the road that was not within the job scope.
Chong, who is also the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs deputy minister, said that the federal government welcomes all criticism and supervision over the projects undertaken by the contractors appointed by the ICU, regardless whether the complaints came from members of the public or SUPP.
A Chinese daily recently reported that the SUPP representative issued a complaint highlighting the defects in the road construction in Batu Kawa area.
