(Miri, 29th) – Sarawak Minister of Transport and Senadin state assemblyman Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin visited Lorong 3A Nos. 257, 258, and 259 in Hilltop Garden today to inspect the reconstruction project of the collapsed retaining wall, sanitation facilities, and reinforced concrete drainage systems. He stated that the project officially commenced on June 4th this year and is expected to take a year to complete, aiming to thoroughly resolve the longstanding local infrastructure issues.
He said that since the work involves demolishing the original damaged facilities and rebuilding retaining walls, drainage systems, and related sanitation facilities, the procedures are rather complex, so it is expected to take about a year to fully finish. He has instructed the contractor to expedite progress while ensuring construction quality, in order to minimize inconvenience to residents’ lives.
Lee Kim Shin pointed out that, during the construction period, he also received a complaint from another household stating that their septic tank was damaged due to the project, and to date, repairs have not been made nor a temporary tank provided, causing significant inconvenience to the residents.
In response, he has already directed the contractor to immediately build a temporary septic tank, allowing residents to use such facilities normally prior to the project’s completion, so as to avoid the problem being prolonged.
He revealed that this project costs RM400,000, and the funding did not come from the Disaster Committee, but is a special emergency allocation he secured directly from the Sarawak Government.
“This issue has been delayed for too long, so I especially sought a special allocation from the government, hoping to solve the problems troubling residents as soon as possible.”
He said this project is just one of three special allocation projects he has successfully secured. The other two are the affordable housing road repair project and the landslide restoration project near the Bumiko area.
He stated that the total allocation for the three projects is about RM1.3 million, with each project receiving roughly RM400,000; all were secured to address longstanding unresolved livelihood issues and to improve local infrastructure and ensure residents’ safety.
Lee Kim Shin stated that he will continue to follow up on the progress of these projects and visit other affected areas to ensure the relevant problems are properly resolved, so that residents may return to normal life as soon as possible.
