KOTA KINABALU, 4 OCT – The 1.5-kilometre main entrance road construction project to Hospital Universiti Malaysia Sabah (HUMS) worth RM18.94 million was fully completed on 1 July, said Public Works Minister, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
He said the project owned by the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) was managed by the Public Works Department (JKR) in collaboration with JKR Sabah through an open tender and the construction of the project had started on 15 March 2021.
“This project was completed within the stipulated time period and I congratulate the contractor and all related departmental agencies for successfully completing this project.
“This project will benefit road users and HUMS,” he told reporters after the project’s handover ceremony to the KPT represented by Deputy Minister of Higher Education Mustapha Sakmud who is also a Member of Parliament for Sepanggar. Also present was the Deputy Chief Minister III, Datuk Shahelmey Yahya who is also the State Public Works Minister and the Chairman of the UMS Board of Directors, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
Nanta said monitoring works will also be done in the area around the construction of the road so that immediate action can be taken if there are any problems.
Earlier, Nanta said various challenges were encountered in the process of completing the project, especially during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of the Movement Control Order which restricted the use of human resources, the movement of machinery and construction materials.
In addition, the location of the project site is also a challenge because there are various utilities involved including Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia, Sabah State Water Department and UMS internal utilities which indirectly also affect the completion period of the project.
However, the project team managed to overcome the various challenges with very minimal disruption even though the project location is in the administrative area of the state government, university and has a high population density.
“The construction of this project aims to increase people’s accessibility to the health facilities provided by HUMS and the new road from UMS to Jalan Yayasan-Kampung Kibagu will definitely ease and reduce traffic congestion in UMS,” he said. – Named
