Govt is serious in implementing reverse urbanisation for rural areas
BAGAN DATUK, April 26 (Bernama) -- The government has made changes in its approach to carry out reverse urban transformation, that is, changing the rural landscape by bringing urbanisation and various infrastructural facilities in a holistic manner to these areas.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government gave serious attention to such approach and the transformation was made to create balanced urbanisation in the area to ensure that the residents there were not left out of the mainstream of development.
He explained that reverse urbanisation, that is, urbanising the rural areas to become urban centres was being carried out after the government evaluated the support of the rural community which had been seen to be more consistent in supporting the present government.
"The government frequently opens its eyes and ears, not merely to listen to the woes of the people but also their heartbeat and pulse, especially those staying in the outskirts and interior areas who might have been overlooked in the past because most of the focus were on the urban areas, but the urban population did not give their support to the government.
"This was because they felt they were entitled to these facilities as they were living in town. Thus, under such circumstances the government began to evaluate the support of the people living in the rural areas and the outskirts, " he said.
He said this when launching the project to upgrade route FT069 from Simpang Empat Hutan Melintang to Bagan Datuk Town and Elevated Interchange FT005 - FT069 Simpang Empat Hutan Melintang, here today which was also attended by the Perak Exco for Public Utilities, Infrastructure, Energy and Water, Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin here.
At a media conference later, Ahmad Zahid said the upgrading project was to make it into an alternative route, especially to overcome the traffic congestion during festive holidays, thus reducing journey time.
In fact, he said, the government's approach to upgrade infrastructure in the rural areas not only involved rural roads, but also the construction of roads that could become the link between the states.
"Thus, the roads here are alternative roads heading to this direction. Of course we have the North-South Expressway (PLUS) but during the festive season, this expressway cannot resolve the traffic congestion.
"So, the construction of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) and the roads joining it are the best alternative to avoid congestion, not only during the festive seasons but we plan that economic activities particularly foreign direct investment (FDI) could go to these areas which are linked by the expressway or four-lane roads,"he said.
Meanwhile, Zainol Fadzi said in his speech that the first phase of the construction stretching 5 kilometres of four-lane expressway with elevated intersection would cost about RM104 million and would be ready in May 2021.
"The project scope includes upgrading the route including land acquisition works, repairing soft ground, electrical works, installing road fixtures and building two bridges measuring 12 metres and 30 metres,"he said.
He said the efforts to upgrade and widen the road was a continuation of several projects carried out in the districts of Hilir Perak and Bagan Datuk including the West Coast Expressway, the construction of the Elevated Intersection at Pekan Simpang Empat Hutan Melintang and the construction of a four-lane bridge linking Bagan Datuk and Sejagop in the district of Perak Tengah.
-- BERNAMA
