KUCHING: The Sarawak government's decision to build two bridges in the state has been welcomed by the federal government.
Works Minister Baru Bian said the proposed Batang Rambungan and Batang Lupar bridges had been deferred by the federal government due to financial constraints.
He said the bridges, along with the Igan bridge, are located along the coastal road of Sarawak, which is a state road.
"The previous government agreed to assist the state in constructing these bridges. But we took over the government in a constrained environment in terms of finance, so we decided to defer the construction of the bridges.
"We will review the projects in the future but we welcome the state's decision that they want to finance them.
"If the state government is capable of financing the bridges, that's a good thing," he told reporters at his Christmas and New Year open house here on Sunday (Jan 6).
Baru said this did not mean that he was not fighting for Sarawakians' rights or that the federal government did not want to assist the state.
"Many other projects have been financed by the federal government and presently, we are still building the Pan Borneo Highway, which amounts to about RM6bil.
"We need to be wise and prudent in our spending of public money because we are now in debt of up to RM1 trillion," he said.
It was reported that the Batang Rambungan and Batang Lupar bridge projects had been placed under the purview of the Sarawak Public Works Department and were now being tendered.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg was reported saying that the state would build the bridges if there was no assistance from the federal government.
Baru also said no decision had been made on the Sarawak government's proposal for the federal government to reimburse the state for constructing the bridges.
"That has not been decided. We have to discuss this with the Finance Ministry," he said.
On another matter, Baru said he would talk to state governments in the coming months about his ministry's idea of using excess Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) funds to maintain federal roads.
Marris allocations are given to state governments to maintain state roads.
Baru said some state governments previously put their excess Marris funds in fixed deposit.
"It's up to them to do that. This is where we come in with the idea of using excess funds for the maintenance of federal roads.
"But for this to be implemented, the respective states have to agree to it.
"We will discuss with the state governments if it is possible to use the excess funds for maintaining federal roads in the respective states because we don't have sufficient funding at the moment," he said.
