By V. Sivaji
Perak Menteri Besar Dato Seri Saarani Mohamad officiated the ground breaking ceremony for the upgrading work for the busy Jalan Tambun here.
Present was the chairman of Sunway Group, Tan Sri Dato Sri Jeffry Cheah, Dato Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Minister of Youth and Sports and MP for Tambun, State Exco for Housing, Local Government and Tourism, Dato Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi, State Exco for Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transport, Dato Mohd Zolkafly Harun, Ipoh Mayor Dato Rumaizi Baharin among others.
In his address, Saarani paid tribute to the Ipoh City Council and Sunway Group for their continuous efforts to ensure the welfare of residents in the area.
“Of late we have seen the fast pace of development in Ipoh and with that comes new challenges. With this the Ipoh City Council has come up with creative solutions to ensure the well-being of its residents.
“And with social media, the public can voice their needs and also their dissatisfactions like traffic congestion, pollution, rubbish dumping noise pollution and more.
“This upgrading project has taken into consideration the views of stakeholders, NGOs, members of the public and authorities,” said Saarani.
He also added that the upgrading work is a collaboration between the Ipoh City Council and Sunway City Ipoh Sdn Bhd to ensure smooth flow of traffic. The project was delayed due to the MCO restrictions.
Work on the project which started in April 2021 and is expected to be completed by September this year. The project starts from Ampang Road to till the traffic light at Taman Perpaduan.
The 5.2km project will cost RM16.35 million with the state government providing RM8 million and Sunway Group providing the balance of RM8.35 million.
The project is expected to replace five traffic lights with U turn options and the installation of LED traffic lights along with other safety features in anticipation of flash floods.
It is hoped that the new highway will ease traffic congestion since the road has become heavily used due to development of new projects and housing areas.
The LED traffic light will also reduce the usage of electricity and provide a low carbon footprint in line with Ipoh’s Low Carbon City 2030 initiatives.
Among the top tourist attractions in the Tambun area are the Sunway Lost World of Tambun (SLWOT) and the Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat.