Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) is synonymous with infrastructure development in Sarawak. It is one of the main government departments in the State that ensures the provision of various physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, wharves, jetties, and river walls.
In 2022, it carried out 782 development projects. 162 of them were completed, 215 were under construction, and 405 were in the pre-contract phase, which involved planning, designing, documenting, and tendering.
Most of these projects were undertaken in divisions of Kuching (109), Miri (91), Samarahan (86) and Kapit (80). Meanwhile, 16 projects were implemented across more than one division (Table 1).
When asked about upcoming projects for 2023 in an interview with RAKAN Sarawak, JKR Sarawak director Ir. Ts. Richard Tajan states that projects under the purview of the department tend to be carried out over several years.
In fact, while 162 projects have been completed as of December 2022, the remaining 620 projects are in various stages of implementation and thus are only expected to finish between 2023 and 2024.
Separately, there are a total of 10,268 projects being implemented by the department under the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025). Majority of them are Rural Transformation Projects (9,486), whereas the rest are either under the Sarawak Government (426) or the Federal Government (356).
Federal Government infrastructure development projects, according to Ir. Ts. Richard, include the Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway project, road projects, health clinics, and dilapidated schools.
References:
Official Website of Public Works Department (PWD) Sarawak. (n.d.). https://jkr.sarawak.gov.my/page-0-0-178-Products-Services.html
