P-turn nearer to Marudi road junction approved, says Penguang

MARUDI (July 5): The Public Works Department (JKR) has approved the construction of a P-turn nearer to Marudi road junction to meet the demand from road users, said Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil.

The road divider along the Pan Borneo Highway has forced road users to drive nearly 4km to reach the nearest P-turn, prompting uproar on social media for the inconvenience.

“JKR has already approved the plan to build a P-turn which is only about 300 metres away from the junction and I appeal to the public to be patient pending its completion,” he said.

He was speaking to The Borneo Post after the 16th SK Sungai Jaong sports meet here today.

This was confirmed by Miri Divisional engineer Stephen Ung, who said the work had already started and he had instructed the contractor to put up a notice to inform road users.

Meanwhile, at the SK Sungai Jaong sports meet, Penguang said the state government had approved RM14 million to upgrade Marudi Sports Complex, which includes construction of another stage, a badminton hall, refurbished running track and new lighting to upgrade the complex to Level two classification.

Over 70 per cent of the students of SK Sungai Jaong are Bumiputeras, which he said is a good sign that the Bumiputera community also appreciates the importance of learning Chinese language which is the third most dominant in the world.

He said the English language must also be emphasised as it is the international lingua franca in trade and technology.

Penguang said he will assist SJK Sungai Jaong to build covered walkways linking boarding hostels to the classrooms, and urged the school to present a cost estimate to facilitate allocation of funds under the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP).

Earlier, school headmistress Tiong See Née appealed to Penguang and the public to continue their support to help upgrade the school’s facilities.

“SK Sungai Jaong is unique as it is one of the rare Chinese medium schools with boarding students, and it needs a covered walkway to link hostels to the classrooms,” she said.

She said the school has produced state and divisional representatives in sports and games, including at national primary school sports meets in the last two years.

Also present were Marudi District Council chairman Edward Mendai, Marudi OCPD DSP Ruslan Mat Kit, school board chairman Hiong How Luk, PTA chairman Houng Yu Neu, Pemanca Wong Kiong Ching and other community leaders.