Pan Borneo Highway specs same as top grade federal highways, Works Ministry tells PSB

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File photo of an aerial view of a stretch of the completed KOP from Jalan Nyabau to Simpang Bakun.

KUCHING: The Works Ministry has clarified that the grade specifications of all federal roads in Malaysia are the same, including for the Pan Borneo Highway (PBH) which is still under construction.

It said in a statement today that although PBH was placed under List 2 of the Weight Restriction Order, its specifications were the same as List 1 roads except for the bridges that link the highway.

“The List 2 in fact refers to bridges along the PBH so that only vehicles ferrying a maximum load of 38 tonnes each are allowed on it. This also means that these bridges are limited to six axle vehicles only,” it said.

The ministry had issued the statement in response to Parti Sarawak Bersatu’s query last week over why the Sarawak portion of the PBH had been listed under List 2 while major highways in Peninsular Malaysia were listed under List 1.

The ministry added that to ensure that Sarawakians enjoyed the same development as their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia, the Telok Melano to Miri portion of the PBH was being upgraded in tandem with current traffic needs that comply to the load capacity regulations imposed by the Transport Ministry.

The federal government, through the Works Ministry and its agencies, were aware of the need to upgrade roads in the state, said the statement.

“In view of this, various efforts have been implemented towards the furtherance of infrastructural road development such as the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road (SSLR), the Long Lama-Long Pasia road project and access roads connecting towns in the rural areas,” it said.

Starting Feb 20, the PBH project is being managed by the federal Public Works Department (JKR) as the Independent Consulting Engineer (ICE), which is to provide advisory services to the Works Ministry and JKR Sarawak to ensure that the compliance of specifications meet periodical audit criteria.

JKR Sarawak was yesterday appointed as the Superintending Officer of the mega highway project.

The Works Ministry also rebutted a claim by PSB that the federal government, especially the Works Ministry, was cutting corners in implementing infrastructure projects in Sarawak to cut cost.

“The federal government, in the 2020 Budget, has allocated funds to Sarawak for several projects, which include RM4.4 billion for development expenditure; RM115 million for clean water supply to the rural areas; RM285.6 million – the biggest ever allocation comparing to Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia – for rural electrification project; RM224.40 million for building rural roads and the Special Grant of RM32 million.

“The Special Grant sum would be doubled to RM64 million after five years, and this is the first time since 50 years that this special grant provision will be increased,” the statement said.