KUCHING: The RM375.5mil Batang Saribas 1 bridge will be officially declared open by Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg on July 19.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said the 1.55km span brought an end to the people's 60-year wait for a bridge across the Batang Saribas.
The newly completed bridge was opened for public use on May 25. It is the fifth to be completed out of 16 bridges being constructed along the Sarawak Coastal Road.
Uggah said Abang Johari was scheduled to officiate the bridge's opening in Pusa, a small coastal town in central Sarawak.
He said the Premier would also launch the Betong Division Development Agency (BDDA) at the same time.
"We feel that it is most appropriate for him to launch both the bridge and BDDA.
"The people of Betong wish to thank the Premier for the bridge and for allocating a budget of RM1.5bil to BDDA," he said after chairing a meeting on preparations for the opening ceremony in Betong on Monday (June 16).
Uggah said BDDA was set up in 2022 as one of nine regional development agencies in Sarawak.
"BDDA is a game changer on the path towards fulfilling the people's expectations for more development and a better life," he said, adding that the organisers were targeting a crowd of 5,000 for the launch events.
Also present at the meeting were Betong and Batang Lupar MPs Datuk Dr Richard Rapu and Mohamad Shafizan Kepli, Krian and Kalaka assemblymen Friday Belik and Mohamad Duri and Betong Resident Richard Michael Abunawas.
