COASTAL ROAD
BY TANIA LAM & NOOR SYAHHIRA HADY
KUCHING: The construction of bridges along the coastal road can save significant costs as the state government spends an estimated RM50 million annually to finance ferry services across rivers along the route.
Assistant Minister of Infrastructure and Ports Development Datuk Julaihi Narawi said that one of the key objectives of the state government was to replace all ferry services along the coastal road with bridges.
“This means that when the bridges we have planned are built along the coastal road, the ferry services will not be provided anymore,” he said during an interview at his office in Baitul Makmur Building here today.
He said the current cost of utilising the ferry services is only RM1 per vehicle, pointing out that the service was heavily subsidised by the state government.
“About RM50 million is spent by the state government annually to finance these ferry services. We cannot rely on the RM1 fee charged per vehicle,” he said.
He said with the bridges in place, there would be no need for travellers to queue for a long time waiting for their turn to take the ferry at various rivers along the coastal road.
According to Julaihi, not only regular vehicles would benefit from this but also heavy vehicles, especially oil tankers from the oil palm plantations in the surrounding areas.
“This indicates that Batang Igan Bridge as well as other bridges along the coastal road is much needed and their construction must be expedited,” he said.
