ACCORDING to the official website of the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak, the long-awaited completion of the 1,060km stretch is scheduled for mid-2021, which means any day now!
Luckily for them with the perennial delays, they have so many more excuses to make, among which is the current coronavirus and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), etc.
On March 4, 2021, a Bernama report quoted the current Works Minister (who is himself from Sarawak) saying that on the Sarawak side, the highway had reached 60 per cent completion, whilst in Sabah, is only 45 per cent.
We still have a long way to go.
The origins of this planned trunk road connecting Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah date back to the 1960s when the idea was mooted of a Trans-Borneo Highway. It is currently expected to span a total distance of 1,060km, from Telok Melano at the extreme western most point of Sarawak, to Merapok on the north-eastern sector near Lawas and the Brunei border.
Currently, if one were to travel by road in a sturdy 4×4 all-purpose vehicle driving at a steady 60/70kph, one would take approximately 19 hours non-stop from the furthermost western tip of Sematan to Miri on the north-eastern tip, where the current good roads end.
I’ve made the trip from Kuching to Bandar Sri Begawan, and also to Kota Kinabalu, a number of times throughout the past 40 years.
Road trips have to be planned meticulously and well-researched, with good maps and information as well as advice and experience learned and culled from friends and acquaintances, whom ‘have been there and done that’. If you’re taking one just with your better half or your family, it’s easier as you know what your interests and needs are.
Photo shows the writer (second left) with friends on a road trip to Batang Ai in 2014.
If you’re in a mixed group, it would take a lot of Q&As and a few meetings in order to come to a consensus of what the group, as a whole, is looking for.
I have noticed that differences would always arise in three areas – the pace and speed of journey; places to stop and for how long; and food, sightseeing and shopping along the way and on the stopovers.
I will share some of our experiences for the many road trips and journeys that I’ve made throughout the years. At the present moment, I do not recommend that you plan any in the near future as many sections of the road are still under construction and there are many stops, delays and waiting periods. Besides which, the parts under construction are unpaved, bumpy and dangerous.
On a trip made in the 1990s when the road was still pre-Pan Borneo Highway planning stage – most parts of it were simple, unspoilt by heavy equipment and trucks, but on the main mostly two-lane all the way. We were often caught behind either a slow bus or a six-tonner truck, and were wary and very slow on the dangerous Simanggang-Betong sector at the time.
We made our way to Kota Kinabalu and had a few stopovers along the way, with an overnight stay in Miri at a good friend’s residence. As it wasn’t the fruiting season, there weren’t that many fruit stalls along the way.
On another trip during the fruiting season, many sectors of the roads were lined with local native vendors trying to sell their basketfuls of durians. There were also rambutans and other all-season bananas, wild mangoes, guavas, starfruits, and all varieties of farm-grown vegetables and other jungle produce. Many other vehicles would be parked haphazardly along the many temporary makeshift stalls, making it very dangerous for all other drivers.
Even then, I had noticed the lack of any stopover facilities, making it very inconvenient for the ladies and children in general – if only the planners could construct more public toilets along the route as well as some stopovers with a snack kiosk where a traveller could stop and take a breather, for a ‘wee-wee’ and a drink or snack, or just to stretch his legs after hours of tedious driving having to put his full concentration on navigating the tortuous, winding and bumpy roads!
Please don’t forget to place many big-sized litter bins there too!
What has been the greatest eyesore experience of the many road trips that I’ve made over the years? It’s the amount of rubbish and litter that’s thrown out of vehicle windows, or simply littered liberally without any civic consciousness on the part of the litterer!
This has been going on for as long as I can remember and we can never make the progress to being a First World nation with such a Third World mentality!
In this, we have the authorities to blame for some part of this as well. I still see that with each new development – be it a new shopping mall, new public park or simply just within a newly-opened public facility – it’s virtually impossible to locate or to find the litter bins!
It seems to me that the planners had purposely planned to tuck them all away in some odd corners, away from sight and view! If and when you do find one, it’s either too small, without any signage or filled up and no one has bothered to clear it.
Maintenance is another big grouse, but we shall leave that for another time.
Travelling in a bigger group in a small caravan of three or four vehicles, the stopovers and choices of food, sightseeing and shopping are important. They are planned in detail. The lodgings have to suit every pocket – normally, we go for a simple two-star economy hotel; after all, it’s just to go back and sleep late at night and off we continue with our journey at first light the next morning!
Food choice is always dicey – there are those who are looking for fresh seafood; others want some local spice and exotic dishes; yet others who want a simple Western chicken chop or sandwich. So we mostly compromise by going to an eatery where all three major food choices can be found – sorry for the Western food lover – he simply has to settle for the ‘Lemon Chicken’ at best!
Sightseeing and shopping are a lot easier because in a small place, like say Saratok or even Bintulu, we know what the local attractions are – and we go straight to the jungle produce markets first, and to the best and newest shopping centre or supermarket next!
Photo opportunities are aplenty at all these small town stopovers – some of them can be ‘walked all over’ within a couple of hours!
I am sure that you do look forward to the day when we can all go back to normal, and plan and just pack up and go on a road trip to anywhere our heart chooses – it could be just an hour from home, or 19 hours to the eastern most tip of the country!
God-willing, by the time we do it next, the coronavirus would be under some control; and God-willing too, the Pan Borneo Sarawak Highway would be completed!
Amen.