Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg speaks during an event in Kuching on Jan 28, 2023. – Bernama photo
MIRI (Feb 16): Northern Sarawak will be linked by a gas pipeline and a good road network which will spur economic growth and development, said Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said Miri will become a strategic gas hub with a pipeline connected all the way to Lawas where a petro-chemical gas complex and a deep water port have been planned.
“The gas pipeline will connect Limbang and Lawas eventually to Bintulu hub and in next 10 years, to Kuching under the Sarawak gas roadmap,” he told a press conference at Pulau Melayu, Miri Port Authority’s offshore landing point.
Earlier, Abang Johari chaired a state development coordination committee meeting here which was attended by, among others, Deputy Premiers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian and State Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki.
The premier had announced in October last year that state-owned Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) was projected to invest RM65 billion over the next 10 years to set up gas hubs in Miri, Samalaju, Bintulu and Kuching, with downstream value-added industries in the pipeline.
Abang Johari is upbeat over the economic prospects of Miri, saying today that with Shell coming back and basing it regional operation centre in the city and the slew of infrastructure and economic development lined up, it will have a contagion impact on Baram, Limbang and Lawas.
He said the northern interior connectivity is already in progress with good roads in Baram shaping up while the proposed road from Marudi to Long Terawan is now on the Public Works Department’s drawing board.
“The road from Marudi to Long Terawan is now at preliminary design stage and eventually, Gunung Buda and Mulu will be connected and linked to the northern highway, and this will be called the eco-tourism corridor,” he said.
Mulu in Baram is a Unesco World Heritage Site, while Bukit Buda national park in Limbang is also the ancestral land of the Tabun tribe and home of their sacred mountain.
Abang Johari envisaged this road link from Miri to Lawas to take between seven to eight years to materialise, and it will bypass Temburong district of Brunei.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari said he is planning to drive from Long Lama to Long Kevok, a Penan settlement, after Hari Raya Aidilfitri this year.
During this trip, Abang Johari will be checking on the progress of the road, utilities and telecommunication infrastructure development undertaken by Regional Corridor Development Authority through the Highland Development Agency and other government agencies.
He will also be looking at the issue of some locals opposing the setting up of a water treatment plant in Mulu to benefit the community here.