BY YEE XIANG YUN

JOHOR BARU: The delay in the expansion works at a bridge on the Pasir Gudang Highway near Plentong here may not be ready according to its schedule.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who visited the site on June 8, said that phase one of the highway expansion project did not look like it could be completed within the Sept 30 deadline.

He said that this was because the bridge, one of six bridges involved in the project, had caused a delay in the completion for the overall development, which is only 60% completed.

Fadillah said the contractor would be given until Sept 30 to increase manpower and materials to ensure the job is done on time or face being penalised and suspended from the project.

“In the event the contractor fails to perform, we will terminate their contract and open tender for another contractor to take over,” he said, adding that the deadline had already been extended from its initial time, which was before Hari Raya.

He added that phase one of the project from the current four lanes to six lanes involves a cost of RM148mil.

The first phase of the project is along a 8km stretch out of 32km of the highway and the second phase is expected to begin in August.

He added that the ministry was monitoring the project fortnightly for it to be completed on time for the convenience of road users.

When asked whether the completion delay in the first phase would cause the starting date for the second phase to be postponed, Fadillah denied it, saying that they would proceed with the next phase no matter what.

Earlier, he also visited the roads in Permas Jaya and allocated RM1.5mil to repair and maintain the damaged and pothole-ridden roads.