KUCHING: The Sarawak government has denied the impression that it victimises or discriminates against firms from China involved in big infrastructural projects in the state.
In a statement today (January 22), Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the state's Infrastructure and Port Development Minister, said such an impression came about following a contract for the construction of the Rambungan Bridge in Kuching being terminated recently.
"A firm from China was involved in the construction of this much delayed project," he said.
Earlier, Uggah had visited the construction sites of the Batang Lupar Bridge 1 as well as Batang Saribas 1 Bridge and Batang Saribas 2 Bridge.
Joining him were the Chinese Consul General in Kuching, Xing Weiping, and Sarawak Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development Permanent Secretary, Datuk Chiew Chee Yau.
According to Uggah, his ministry has been objective in its assessment of any contractor's performance in the state's projects, apart from making sure contractors are responsible to complete their projects on time.
"That is why today (January 22) I am inviting the Consul General Xing to join me on this visit. We want to show him how we conduct our project implementation progress briefing.
"As a matter of fact, all these three bridge projects also involve contractors from China. We have also informed him that should they fail to show the expected performance, there will be a time when we have to terminate their contracts like what we did in the Rambungan Bridge project," he said.
Meanwhile, Uggah has asked for the three China firms involved in the construction of Batang Lupar 1, Saribas 1 and Saribas 2 bridge projects to speed up the construction as they were all behind their completion schedules.
He said Batang Lupar Bridge 1 project, which cost RM848.75 million is expected to be completed by November next year, while the Saribas Bridge 1 project which costs RM375.5 million is targeted to be completed in April next year.
"On the Saribas Bridge 2 project, the RM385 million project is expected to be ready by August 1, next year," he said. — Bernama