KOTA TINGGI: The final 27km stretch of the Senai-Desaru Expressway (SDE) will be fully operational by early next year.

 

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman announced that the remaining stretch of the highway, including the 1.7km-long bridge spanning Sungai Johor, would be accessible to the public by February or March next year.

 

“The highway should have been fully operational by the middle of this year but its concessionaire, Senai-Desaru Expressway Bhd, notified us that there would be a delay due to some technical matters.

 

“We have been told that the construction of the cable bridge requires a lot of attention,” he said.

 

Abdul Ghani said the highway would be a blessing to the people in the area as not only would it connect them to the city but it would also reduce travel time between Johor Baru and Desaru.

 

“The opening of the remaining stretch of the highway will bring many benefits to locals and tourists,” he said during his working visit to the Kota Tinggi parliamentary constituency on Tuesday.

 

He also said that roads within Iskandar Malaysia, especially in Johor Baru city, should be completed by July 2011.

 

Abdul Ghani said that he understood that many people had been inconvenienced by construction work along the busy city roads and promised that this would be completed soon.

 

“Many of the roads around the city and leading out of town, including Jalan Johor Baru - Kota Tinggi and Jalan Skudai, should be completed by the middle of next year,” he said.