KUANTAN: The construction of the Selancar bridge to replace the Bailey bridge on the main road to Felda Selancar and Perwira Jaya in Rompin, near here, which collapsed during the Northeast Monsoon in March, will begin next year.

Pahang Works, Transport, Health and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Mohammad Fakhruddin Mohd Ariff said the bridge replacement project was recently released by the Ministry of Economy to the Works Ministry under the Bridge Replacement Programme, Rolling Plan 4 of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

“This project will be implemented by the Public Works Department (JKR), with the appointment process of land surveying and investigation first to prepare the design before the tender and construction process is implemented,” he said.

He said this at the Pahang State Legislative Assembly sitting at Wisma Sri Pahang here today in reply to a question from Nazri Ahmad (PN-Bukit Ibam), who wanted to know when work to build the bridge will begin.

The Selancar bridge collapsed on March 1 after the river broke its banks due to continuous rain and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, during a visit to the location on the same day, instructed the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) to immediately prepare the allocation for the construction of the Bailey bridge.

The 42.67-metre (m) Bailey bridge was built by JKR with the assistance of the Malaysian Armed Forces, involving 80 personnel, after components of the bridge were moved to the location from the Kuala Pilah JKR in Negeri Sembilan and the Petaling district JKR in Selangor.

On March 7, Public Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said that a single lane of the Bailey bridge on the main road of Selancar and Perwira Jaya in Rompin was open to all light vehicles under 40 tonnes with a speed limit of 30 kilometres an hour (km/h) only.–Bernama