KUCHING: “Irresponsible” was what Assistant Minister of Urban Development and Resources Datuk Len Talif Salleh said about Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh and PSB Youth chief Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa who reportedly said that Sarawak’s proposed second trunk road project was redundant.
Len said he had been travelling along the coastal road for many years and every week since the implementation of the movement control order (MCO), even as recently as last week.
“So I know exactly what goes on in the affected areas,” he said yesterday.
Len Talif said that Wong and Rayong, who he believed hardly utilised this road, did not understand the demography or economic activities along the proposed project area.
“So to make such statements objecting to the second trunk road was irresponsible and without rural interest at heart,” he said.
Specifically, he rebutted Rayong’s statement that the trunk road passed through no man’s land and Maludam National Park.
“In fact, the section of the road between Maludam and Triso is mostly using the existing alignment without passing through Maludam National Park,” he said.
As for the stretch from Sebuyau to Batang Sadong Bridge, he said it provided access to Sebuyau National Park, thereby supporting the state government’s ecotourism initiatives.
“So it is not true that it is in no man’s land. It is important that the road also passes through native customary rights (NCR) land and plantation areas which were not easily accessible. This is how the state government is trying to develop the rural economy,” he said.
