Gawai revellers jam incomplete road to Kapit

People rushing back to Kapit for Gawai using the Ngemah-Temalat stretch despite the road not being open to traffic yet.

SIBU: There was a traffic jam along the 9.6km Ngemah-Temalat stretch as a large number revellers of Gawai Dayak chose to drive home to Kapit from here instead of using the express boat.

This is despite the fact that the road is not opened to traffic yet as it is still under construction.

The stretch of road together with the Kanowit-Song-Kapit Road will be fully tar-sealed by August next year.

According to the corporate communications section of the Public Works Department (JKR) head office in its press statement, the road will thereafter be connected to the tar-sealed Jalan Song-Sipang-SK Temalat en route to Kapit.

By then, the whole road network to Kapit will be completed, the department said.

“At the moment, there is a road linking Kanowit and Ngemah. The 9.6km Ngemah-Temalat link is not ready to be opened to traffic as the construction is still going on and unsafe for the public,” it said.

Section B, Package 1 of the Ngemah-Temalat Road, which is currently 39.73% done, is the only incomplete link in the network.

JKR said the actual length of the Kanowit-Song-Kapit road is about 100.9km.

The completion of this road is expected to have a huge positive impact on the people not only in Kapit but also the people of Song and Kanowit, and most importantly to the rest of Sarawak in terms of physical development and economy.