Baru Bian – File photo
KUCHING: The work to build alternative road or bypass from Lawas and Limbang to Miri was actually already approved by the previous federal government held by Pakatan Harapan (PH), said Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian.
Baru, who was the works minister in the previous federal government, therefore called on the current Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof to prioritise the interests of the people in Sarawak and ensure this project and others especially in rural parts of Sarawak will continue.
Baru, who is also Selangau MP, said the previous prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Sultan of Brunei had come to an understanding that the Pan Borneo Highway would bypass Brunei following an official visit to the sultanate in 2018.
“This has proven to be a wise decision, as many countries have closed the borders these past few months in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It was also a logical step to take so that Sarawakians will not need to have a passport to travel from one end of Sarawak to the other end,” he said in a statement today.
It was issued in response to Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail who in yesterday’s The Borneo Post news report had called for the federal government to consider the proposed alternative road or bypass from Lawas and Limbang to Miri that does not pass through Brunei in addition to the Pan Borneo Highway.
Baru said the Assistant Minister, who is also Bukit Kota assemblyman, should be aware that the bypass was approved by the PH government as this had been reported in the newspapers.
He also said that when he was the works minister, he had launched the 425km segment of the project named the Sarawak Sabah Road Link (SSLR) at Long Sebangang, Lawas in November 2019.
According to him, the SSLR will connect Sarawak and Sabah in two stages; from Lawas to Long Sukang, Long Luping and Pa’ Brunut, and from Pa Brunut to Long Lama.
Besides that, he also initiated the Trans-Borneo Highway to link the interiors of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan in Indonesia, which was expected to be completed in 10 years and of which funding of RM600 million for the first part of the project had been included in the 2020 budget.
“The SSLR is expected to complete by 2030. Infrastructure development is one of the basic functions of the government and a vital catalyst for economic and social development. In Sarawak, the people have waited for a very long time for a proper road connection from north to south.
“I hope the present Works Minister will prioritise the interests of these people and ensure that the SSLR, Pan Borneo Highway and other road projects especially in rural Sarawak will continue without any hitches,” he said.
In yesterday’s news report, Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail had said there was a need for the construction of an alternative road under certain circumstances especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, for transportation and distribution of food and other essential items from Sabah or Miri.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Limbang MP Hasbi Habibollah was also quoted in the same news report as saying the proposal to upgrade the logging roads connecting Sarawak’s northernmost provinces, Limbang and Lawas, with Miri as an alternative route without going through Brunei was in the government’s plan.
He had also said the federal government through the Ministry of Works (KKR) had seen the proposal which had been proposed in 2006.