KUANTAN: After a long delay, the road project connecting Sungai Lembing near here and Felda Lepar Utara, Jerantut is now in the planning and preliminary design stages.
State Public Works, Transport and Health Committee chairman Datuk Mohammad Fakhruddin Mohd Ariff said the Economy Ministry has given the green light to conduct a study and preliminary designing for the stretch at a cost of RM6 million.
"The Rural and Regional Development Ministry will look into planning under the Second Rolling Plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan. The ministry is coordinating with the Public Works Department to prepare the technical documents to appoint a consultant.
"The findings from the study will determine the scope and cost for the road project under the Rural Road programme in the next rolling plan," he said in his winding up speech when debating the motion of support on the state budget bill at the state assembly here today.
The Sungai Lembing-Jerantut stretch, which will turn the former tin-mining hub into a major tourist destination was proposed several years ago but the project never took off.
If the road project commences as planned, the stretch will shorten the current 180km travelling distance from Jerantut to Sungai Lembing, which usually takes about three hours, to about 50km. It will reduce travelling time to about an hour.
Meanwhile, Fakhruddin said the road project between Jalan Pos Buntu in Raub, Pahang to Ulu Slim in Slim River, Perak will be brought to the attention of the Economy Ministry and Rural and Regional Development Ministry.
"An application was previously put forward during the 12th Malaysia Plan, but it is yet to be approved. The project will be submitted again under the Fifth Rolling Plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan for consideration and approval," he said.
On the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, Fakhruddin said the construction has achieved 57.23 per cent progress as of Nov 30 and was on schedule.
He said the state government has set aside RM2 million next year to upgrade the training facilities at Pahang Skills into an excellence centre to develop new courses on railway track maintenance in line with the ECRL project.
The 665km long ECRL alignment from Kota Baru, Kelantan to Gombak, Selangor is set to be completed on Dec 31, 2026, while Gombak to Port Klang stretch is expected to be completed by Dec 31, 2027.
The state assembly sitting continues on Dec 8.
