The public health, housing and local government minister set out the next preparatory step in an Oct 20 State Legislative Assembly update. The plan includes a 6km Sungai Sarawak bypass, with protection expected to cover 470,233 residents and 47,264 hectares in Greater Kuching once completed. Those are future coverage estimates, not a statement that the bypass is already protecting that area.

For residents following flood works, the engineering review is a more immediate milestone than the eventual completion window. The announcement describes preparation for construction; it is not a notice that the full Phase 2 scheme has begun operating.

Three other packages under the Sungai Sarawak Integrated River Basin Development project are at various stages of physical implementation. Their combined RM191 million cost and target completion between the second and third quarters of 2027 belong to those packages, not to completion of the entire RM2.48 billion plan.

The distinction matters when assessing progress around Kuching: a package finishing next year should not be mistaken for delivery of the full bypass scheme, whose stated implementation window extends to 2033.