Tambirat Waterfront Phase 2 gets Premier’s approval

KUCHING: The Tambirat Waterfront Phase 2 project has received approval from Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to proceed.

Integrated Regional Samarahan Development Agency (IRSDA) Steering Committee chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the project, covering an approximately one-kilometre stretch across Kampung Tambirat, would be put out to tender or have its implementing party identified at a later stage.

“The cost will also be quite substantial. It will definitely be more than RM100 million,” he said.

He said this in a media conference after chairing the IRSDA Steering Committee Meeting No. 2/2026 at a hotel here today (Sept 22).

Abdul Karim, who is also the Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister said the project is intended to become a development that the residents of Kampung Tambirat could be proud of.

“For Phase 2, we discussed today that the waterfront will cover the whole of Kampung Tambirat. It will be approximately one kilometre long.

“And we want it to be something that the residents of Kampung Tambirat will be very proud of,” he said.

Meanwhile, he added efforts would also be made to salvage the earlier Phase 1 project, which is the usual venue for the Samarahan Regatta.

According to him, the project was scheduled for completion in 2024, with plans for the Sarawak Premier to officiate the site together with the Samarahan Regatta that year.

However, about four or five months before its scheduled completion, part of the project collapsed.

“The matter has gone into legal proceedings and I cannot deliberate more because it is sub judice,” he said.

Abdul Karim said he believed the matter would either be brought to court or possibly resolved through negotiations between the contractor and the client, with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) serving as the implementing and monitoring agency.