Member of Parliament for Bintulu, Tiong King Sing said the three major
roads were Bintulu-Miri, Bintulu-Suai and BintuluKidurong, which have been the source of complaints from public for the past two years.

He said this after receiving a reply on his question by, the Ministry of
Works at the Parliament session yesterday.  In his question at the
Parliament, Tiong had asked the Works Ministry to explain the reason of
delay on the work to repair, widen and to upgrade on those roads although they have been approved by PWD for quite some time.

Tiong said although the projects were not listed for  implementation under
7th Malaysian Plan, the Works Ministry was fully aware of the importance of the roads to the people of Bintalu.

He said the PWD has already notified the Economic PIanning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department on the matter.

"Realizing the significance of the roads, PWD hats proposed to the EPU on the importance of the three roads and they must be repaired, widened and upgraded as soon as possible.

"These roads are important for many road users and they have been the
backbone in road networks in Bintulu, besides connecting the town with
other parts of Sarawak," he said.

He added that the Bintulu-Mirl road was the major gateway for tourists from Brunei to gain access to Miri, Bintulu acid other rural as well deep
recesses of Sarawak.

"'.By repairing this road, 1 anticipate that it will aaract more tourists
to Bintulu and vice versa,  it would be more convenient for the local
residents," he said.  The road had served as the major access for the
locals to ply between Miri and Bintulu and other parts of the State.

On the Bintulu-Kidurong road,  Tiong said, the volurne of traffic had
always been particularly and incredibly high  on this road especially with
the emergence and sprouting of  heavy industries such as gas and oil as
well as the port in Tanjung Kidurong.

He also said the PWD had forwarded the proposal so that the projects would be implemented under the five-year 8th Malaysian Plan.  It is estimated that the cost of the projects, would amount to RM 215 million.

" For road users plying the Bintulu-Miri road, they have been courting
danger as these roads are dangerously inundated with potholes and sharp
curves. I hope that the, project will be implemented as soon as possible in
an effort to reduce accidents.

"Furthermore, these roads have been the source of complaints. I hope the
JKR headquafters in Kuala Lumpur will approve the allocation under the 8th Malaysian Plan the soonest, he said.

He appealed to the road-users to be extra careful in using these damaged
roads and they should also be patient while. waiting for these projects to
be implemented...END