KUCHING: A federal administrative hub that never materialised left sections of Lebuhraya Pehin Sri Haji Adenan Haji Satem without proper lighting for years.
Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department, Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi, said the route was originally constructed to connect to the proposed Federal Administrative Centre (FAC), on a 2,020-hectare site handed over by the state government to the federal government around 2020.
He said the FAC was envisioned as a “mini Putrajaya” to house federal government departments and agencies, but the plan was shelved once Putrajaya itself was completed and functioning as the federal administrative capital.
“Because the road was delayed, the lighting was delayed too,” he said, noting that some lighting installed early on was energised but left disconnected as the road connection to the FAC site was never completed.
He was speaking at the handover ceremony for a RM5.8-million lighting project along the road today.
Dr Abdul Rahman said the road currently extends about 7.2 kilometres, though it was originally meant to connect through to Rambungan.
He said the incomplete state of the project has had lasting effects, including creating stretches of dark, low-traffic road that became targets for vandalism over the years.
The current lighting project is intended to fully rehabilitate the system regardless of the FAC project’s status, covering the Petra Jaya-Rambungan route.
