BY EDWINNIE EINSTEIN UNJI
KUCHING: The Integrated Regional Samarahan Development Agency (IRSDA) has completed 79 per cent of its projects in the first quarter of this year.
Its Steering Committee chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said of the total 640 projects, 390 have been completed.
Sixty-five are still being implemented while 185 more are in the planning stage.
“Overall, the projects under IRSDA are all good. Though there are a few problematic ones, this cannot be helped,” said Abdul Karim who is Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister.
“Nevertheless, I am very proud to have a good team under IRSDA. I’m not trying to make a comparison with other agencies but when it comes to the percentage of project completion, IRSDA stands at the top.
“This, I believe, is due to us being close to the city where everything such as connectivity, water, electricity, and so on are within our reach,” he said.
He said this during a press conference when attending an Aidilfitri gathering organised by IRSDA at Baitulmakmur Building II here Tuesday.
Abdul Karim also addressed problematic projects, taking as example the Tambirat Waterfront which he said was implemented by way of an open tender.
According to him, the project went smoothly until some portion of the waterfront collapsed into the river.
This, he said, led the project to be investigated to determine whether the collapse was due to nature, contractor or consultant.
“This is what happens when projects are implemented through open tender… it could turn out good or bad. I am not pointing fingers at what had happened but sometimes we need to look into it on a case to case basis,” he said.
Abdul Karim however assured that Samarahan will see a lot of changes in the next five years.
“For instance, we will expand the road from Samarahan bridge right up to Batang Sadong bridge to a dual carriageway.
“Aside from that, we will also move the administrative capital of Samarahan. We already have a site for it but I will let the Premier officially announce where it is (when the time comes),” he said.
