The ferry service plying the Sungai Pelek-Bukit Pelanduk route is limited to motorcycles and pedestrians only. — Photos: SAMUEL ONG/The Star
IT HAS been 20 years since a road bridge was proposed across Sungai Sepang to connect Sungai Pelek in Sepang to Bukit Pelanduk in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, and many are still wondering if this will come to fruition.
Motorists are eager to know the outcome of the proposal pitched by politicians as nothing has been done about it.
It normally takes 30 minutes to drive from Jalan Sungai Pelek to Jalan Lukut-Sepang to get to Bukit Pelanduk.
The road bridge could reduce travelling time to only two minutes.Motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians have it easier as there is a ferry service for them to get across that takes only two minutes.
“The politicians have been talking about this road bridge for the past 20 years but nothing has materialised,” said Sungai Pelek resident Siow Hock Yong.
Like hundreds of residents, Siow has been using the ferry service plying the Sungai Pelek-Bukit Pelanduk route.
Another resident David Toh said they were told during the campaigning for the last general election that the project would take place soon.
“Then nearing last mid-Autumn celebrations, we saw some government officials taking measurements of the road.
“It’s been months now. We hope the project will take off soon,” he said.
However, not everyone is happy with the idea to build a road bridge.Ferry service operator Tan Kah Chai was worried that his livelihood and that of his four partners would be affected.
He takes comfort in the fact that the project, if it takes off, would take a few years to be completed and this would give him time to find another way to earn a living.
“I am also hoping for some compensation from the government.
“As it is, I pay more than RM500 yearly to the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) and Marine Department for boat and operator licences.
“They should at least give us some consideration looking at the years of service we have provided,” said Tan.
Road project is on
Sungai Pelek assemblyman Ronnie Liu has assured the residents that there will be a road bridge but not at the Taman Ria jetty where the ferry service is operating.
“This is to avoid increased traffic going into the housing areas.”
A fishing spot known as Mat Zen’s Fishing Jetty at Kampung Jelutong Indah, the fourth mile of Jalan Sungai Pelek, has been pointed out as a possible location for the connection of the road bridge.
But residents would have to wait, said Liu.
“The Public Works Department (JKR) has yet to announce when the project will start but it is certainly in the plan,” he added.
Selangor Department of Environment (DOE) director Shafee’e Yasin said it had received the first schedule of the environ-mental assessment report from project owner Rural Development Ministry and consultant Wiranda Sdn Bhd last June.
Ronnie Liu
According to the plan, the project will be divided into three phases.
Phase 1 will be the construction of a 911m bridge connecting Sungai Pelek to Kampung India in Bukit Pelanduk.
Phase 2 and Phase 3 is the upgrading of 475m of existing roads and the construction of new roads stretching a distance of 2.2km.
A check with JKR Port Dickson confirmed that the connection bridge is still at the proposal stage.
It has been forwarded to JKR headquarters in Kuala Lumpur for consideration as it will involve the Selangor government due to the matter of land acquisition.
Problems to foresee
A Sepang Land and District Office spokesman said the project would encroach into the mangrove forests on the Selangor side which was gazetted as the Kuala Sepang Forest Reserve.
Any construction work would need approval from the Forestry Department, he said, adding that the project would attract the attention of environmentalists.
“Construction work will damage the primary mangrove forest and affect the river ecosystem,” warned environmental consultant and auditor Ridzuan Said.
As mangrove forests are where fish breed and lay eggs, their destruction would cause a chain effect in dwindling fish supply, jeopardising the livelihood of Sepang fishermen, he added.
“Judging from the width of the river and current boat traffic, it is most likely that a cantilever bridge will have to be built so that vessels can pass underneath.”
He added that the presence of bridge columns would affect the river flow and cause sedimentation.
Urging decision-makers to consider the proposed project with care, Ridzuan suggested that it would make more economical sense to improve and increase the frequency of ferry services rather than resort to mangrove deforestation.
Environmentalists say it is better to improve the ferry service and its infrastructure than clear the mangrove forest nearby.
MyMangrove coordinator and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) research fellow Dr A.
Aldrie Amir said a feasibility study must be carried out to ensure a real need for the road bridge in terms of volume usage and efficiency.
He also reminded the authorities that those concerned were still coming to terms with the effects of an earlier road project that required clearing of mangrove forest at the Environment Interpretive Centre in Pekan Sepang.
Under that project, the mangrove forest had to make way for the upgrading of Jalan Besar Salak from a single-lane road to a four-lane dual carriageway.
