KUCHING: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas is looking forward to working closely with the newly-minted Deputy Prime Minister and Works Minister.
He congratulated Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi for helming their respective ministries and hoped they would strive to enhance road connectivity in Sarawak.
Uggah hoped to be able to discuss with Zahid how more funds could be channelled to Sarawak.
“I am looking forward to working together with Zahid in our pursuit of developing more rural roads in the state.
“Based on our study, we still need to build at least 2,000 kilometres of new roads. This is to ensure all those yet-to-be connected interior longhouses and villages will be connected.
“Our programme is for this to happen by 2030. But this will certainly need quite a substantial amount of funding,” he said.
He said this before embarking on his monthly monitoring of road and bridge construction projects in Kuching and Samarahan on Monday (Dec 5).
Uggah added he has some proposals on how to speed up the implementation of rural projects in Sarawak.
“We have met the previous Minister of Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.
“We believe we need to brief Zahid on the various issues Sarawak is facing in implementing rural projects.
“We need more funds, and that is the bottom line,” he stressed.
On the same note, he expressed his eagerness to work closely with Nanta and hoped the Sarawak Public Works Department (PWD) will be accorded the status of a technical department.
“We are very thankful that a Sarawakian is again helming this very important ministry.
“We expect to work with him in the same very warm and cosy manner we had forged with the previous minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, on the way to improving connectivity via more federal roads.
“On the PWD, it is also an outstanding issue that we will bring up. Another equally important issue is the maintenance of federal roads in the state.
“And again, we would like to reiterate that Sarawak still needs a lot more roads in order to catch up with the rest of the country,” he asserted.
Uggah who is also the Infrastructure and Ports Development Minister was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary to his ministry, Chew Chee Yaw.
They visited the construction sites of the Batang Rambungan Bridge, the Sungai Belian Bridge, and the Sungai Rayu Bridge.
They also checked on the progress of the construction and upgrade works on the Jalan Matang Baru and on the five roundabouts along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway.
