Thursday February 21, 2013

Tenders to be called for Belum viaduct

IPOH: The Federal Government will call for tenders to build a viaduct to allow wildlife to roam freely in the Royal Belum State Park.

Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the viaduct, estimated to cost about RM35mil, would be constructed near the Grik-Jeli (East-West Highway), cutting through the park to allow safe passage for wild animals moving between the upper and lower regions of the Belum forest.

“It could take between one and two years to complete once construction starts,” he said after chairing the state executive council meeting here yesterday.

He noted that the viaduct was part of the Federal Government’s Central Forest Spine initiative for a contiguous network of forests in the backbone of the peninsula.

However, no construction dates have been confirmed.

In January, Dr Zambry had announced that about 20,000ha of land along the East-West Highway would be gazetted as a permanent forest reserve.

He also announced that about 5,018ha of the Piah Forest Reserve in Lenggong would be re-gazetted for conservation and reforestation programmes.

Dr Zambry said the Government would engage with environmental and wildlife experts to develop a system to ensure animals in the area could move freely.

News

Thursday February 21, 2013

Tenders to be called for Belum viaduct