Malaysia's federal government has earmarked nearly US$190 million for construction of roads in the state of Sarawak's rural areas, under the armed forces Jiwa Murni programme.
The programme is a government initiative to use military expertise to improve the living conditions in rural areas, including, apart from road building, housebuilding, bridge building and natural disaster construction projects.
The recent announcement for work in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, includes the upgrade of former logging tracks into paved gravel roads, construction of new roads or to the linking of existing roads to interior areas, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Armed forces' engineering units will carry out the projects to construct roads over a distance of 1,223km. The government said using armed forces to help construction work could help keep overall costs down.
Meanwhile, almost $18million has been set aside for construction of a bridge in Kampung Long Lama in Sarawak. The bridge is expected to expose the Baram region to more business opportunities and make travelling easier for rural pople in the area who always cross the Baram river to reach the town.
The programme is a government initiative to use military expertise to improve the living conditions in rural areas, including, apart from road building, housebuilding, bridge building and natural disaster construction projects.
The recent announcement for work in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, includes the upgrade of former logging tracks into paved gravel roads, construction of new roads or to the linking of existing roads to interior areas, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Armed forces' engineering units will carry out the projects to construct roads over a distance of 1,223km. The government said using armed forces to help construction work could help keep overall costs down.
Meanwhile, almost $18million has been set aside for construction of a bridge in Kampung Long Lama in Sarawak. The bridge is expected to expose the Baram region to more business opportunities and make travelling easier for rural pople in the area who always cross the Baram river to reach the town.
