Jana (second row, eighth from left in dark blue) with residents at the Rumah Suring ground-breaking ceremony.
STUDENTS and villagers living nearby SMK Kanowit in Kanowit, Sarawak, will soon be able to cross Sungai Rajang to the local bazaar as there is a plan to start a ferry service in the near future.
Ngemah assemblyman Anyi Jana said ramps for the ferry would be built on each side of the river, involving a cost of RM90,000 each.
“Funding for the RM360,000 project will come from the constituency’s Rural Transformation Programme (RTP),” he said.
Since the 1970s, the only mode of transportation across the river is by passenger boat which accommodates up to 20 people at a time.
“I have discussed the matter with Machan assemblyman Allan Sidi Gramong as people in both the constituencies have been waiting for the project to take off,” he said during the ground-breaking ceremony for Rumah Suring, a low-cost housing project.
He added that RM300,000 had been set aside for the housing project which would be undertaken by the Public Works Department.
Jana also shared that the Sarawak government had agreed to form the Rascom Development Agency (Rasda) to oversee Kanowit and Selangau.
Rasda will allow for a more systematic development of the former Rajang Area Security Command (Rascom) resettle- ment areas.
“The government is allocating RM1.5bil for this initiative,” he said. – By ANDY CHUA
