Sarawak deputy premier Douglas Uggah Embas said such an impression came about after a contract with a Chinese firm to construct the Rambungan Bridge in Kuching was terminated recently.

“A firm from China was involved in the construction of this much-delayed project,” said Uggah, who is also the state infrastructure and port development minister, in a statement.

Earlier, Uggah and the Chinese consul-general in Kuching, Xing Weiping, visited the construction sites of the Batang Lupar Bridge 1 as well as the Batang Saribas Bridge 1 and the Batang Saribas Bridge 2.

He said his ministry has been objective in assessing any contractor’s performance involved in state projects to ensure they are completed on time.

“That is why I invited consul-general Xing to join me on this visit. We want to show him how we conduct our project implementation progress briefing.

“As a matter of fact, these three bridge projects also involve contractors from China. We also informed him that should they fail to show the expected performance, there will be a time when we have to terminate their contracts, like what we did with the Rambungan Bridge project.”

Uggah urged the firms involved in the construction of the three bridges to expedite their construction as they were all behind schedule.

The Batang Lupar Bridge 1, which costs RM848.75 million, is expected to be completed by November 2025, the RM375.5 million Batang Saribas Bridge 1 by April 2025, and the RM385 million Batang Saribas Bridge 2 by Aug 1, 2025.