Sarawak govt approves 114 flood mitigation projects

KUCHING: The Sarawak government, through the rural transformation initiative, has approved 114 flood-mitigation projects with a ceiling of RM100 million, of which 97 projects worth RM45.78 million are being implemented in 2017.
State Local Government Assistant Minister, Penguang Manggil (pix) said it was anticipated that 63 projects, all implemented by the Public Works Department (PWD, Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) and local councils, would be implemented this year and the rest in 2018.
"Under the State Rural Transformation Projects (RTP), there are 115 projects related to flood mitigation with a total allocation of RM25.04 million approved and are now being implemented by both the DID and local authorities," Penguang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the State Legislative Assembly meeting, here, today.
In addition, he said, the federal Ministry of Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government had allocated RM7.02 million this year to the local authorities in the state to implement flood-mitigation projects.
He said the federal Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had also approved RM27.55 million for the DID to implement flood-mitigation projects.
Two of the high-impact projects implemented under the initiatives are Phase 3 of the Padang Merdeka Flood-Mitigation Project worth RM6.9 million and proposed drainage improvement project at Jalan Green, Kuching.
On the Miri-Marudi road, Penguang who is also the assemblyman for Marudi, said the project was expected to be completed in Mar 2019.
He said the project's contractor, CMS Works, even started the works before receiving the letter of award for the project.
"I am very confident the project will be completed even before Mar 2019," he added. — Bernama