Sarawak’s highway project along Kalimantan border in design stage

MIRI – The plan for the road construction along the borders of Kalimantan, Indonesia is being drawn up, said Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Gerawat Gala.

The network of highways on the Sarawak side will be designed to run parallel with the highway being built by Indonesia on the Kalimantan side. Both sides will then be linked via major border crossings.

“These are the plans in the pipeline to open up both the Sarawak side to join it to the Kalimantan side.

“The state government is planning this major rural highway project at our Sarawak border with Kalimantan.

“The Sarawak-Kalimantan boundary is the longest international border in Malaysia.

“We want the boundary to have a network of highways running parallel with the one being built by Indonesia on the Kalimantan side that will link with their new capital (Nusantara).

“That way, the whole region will become a new economic sphere.

“Sarawak needs to get ready for this long network of roads to be able to open up the border region adjacent to Kalimantan.

“The state will discuss this with the federal government ministries in Putrajaya to seek allocations,” Gerawat, who is Mulu assemblyman, said at a gathering of the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Mulu branch in Miri today.

Earlier this month, Sarawak and Indonesia officially entered into talks on how Sarawak can play a big role in developing hydroelectric dam projects in North Kalimantan.

The state government wants to help the Indonesian government develop their power plants to supply electricity to their new capital Nusantara.

Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan visited Jakarta on March 11 and met Indonesian ministers and government officials to discuss tie-ups between Sarawak Energy Bhd and Indonesian power suppliers.

Sarawak Energy is the electricity producer and supplier for Sarawak.

Awang Tengah told Indonesian ministers that Sarawak Energy will work with Indonesia through a partnership to develop the Mentarang Induk Hydroelectric Power Plant in North Kalimantan.

“This is part of the Sarawak government’s effort to build on the long and successful relationship we have with Indonesia Kalimantan.

“Indonesia is preparing to develop their new capital in Kalimantan and we can share our expertise in hydroelectricity generation with them,” said Awang Tengah in a press statement.

Nusantara is being built to replace Jakarta as the new federal capital of Indonesia.

Sarawak also wants to open up big areas of mountains and forests along the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.

This is to tap the potential for industrial and economic projects that are to be set up in Kalimantan.

The state government had forwarded requests to the federal government to help it open up the border regions with Kalimantan.

The move by Indonesia to relocate its capital city to Kalimantan will present tremendous opportunities for economic progress for Sarawak, Awang Tengah had said.

“Sarawak needs to open up our border with Kalimantan with more roads and build more immigration points now.

“We have presented Putrajaya with our plans for the Sarawak-Kalimantan border development,” he had said.

Awang Tengah said he had attended a meeting in Putrajaya with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed on this matter.

Awang Tengah said he also spoke to Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Sabah and Sarawak Affairs.

“The new Indonesian capital in Kalimantan offers vast amounts of opportunities for Sarawak’s business and industries to benefit from.

“We must get ready the infrastructure needed to link Sarawak with the rest of Kalimantan,” he added.

Indonesia is opening vast areas of Kalimantan not far from the border with Sarawak and the republic intends to relocate its capital city from Jakarta to Nusantara within the next 20 years. – The Vibes, March 27, 2022