KUCHING: The completion of the Sarawak coastal road project in the future will help reduce the gap between rural and urban areas.
Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the ongoing construction of coastal roads across the state was what rural areas needed for development.
She further noted that factors such as limited mass or population, high cost projects and small number of beneficiaries should not be obstacles to realise the project that would help boost connectivity for rural areas.
“We cannot use the same old excuses of not enough critical mass or population, not economical or very costly and only benefit a small number of people.
“With Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s clear policy of making sure that rural population will enjoy same infrastructure connectivity, including utilities and Internet, there will be less rural-urban gap,” she told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
She also mentioned that such effort was similar to those achieved in New Zealand.
“This is what happened in New Zealand. We may be in the countryside of New Zealand but in terms of facilities, it is the same as in urban areas. Travelling from one end to another becomes seamless,” she added.
She was commenting on Abang Johari’s announcement on Thursday that all bridge projects connecting the state’s coastal road would reach completion in four years’ time.
He stated that the construction of bridges and roads that connected all the coastal roads would boost connectivity and remove the people’s dependence on ferry services.
