KUCHING – The state government is planning to erect the country’s highest flagpole to fly the Sarawak flag in Petra Jaya, here.
A source told The Borneo Post that the proposed flagpole will be 99m tall, 4m higher than the nation’s current tallest flagpole at Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur.
The project is expected to cost about RM30 million.
“The flagpole will be erected near the Tea House or Fort Margherita here (in the vicinity of the state assembly complex),” the source said.
It is believed that the flagpole is being erected to mark Sarawak’s achievements in regaining its rights and privileges under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, including the elevation of the head of the state’s administration from chief minister to premier.
The Borneo Post is attempting to gather more information about the flagpole, including when the project will commence and when it is scheduled for completion.
The country’s tallest flagpole was erected in 1989 in time for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that year.
Its location at the southern end of Merdeka Square is significant as it was at this spot that the Union Flag was lowered to signify the end of British rule and the Malayan flag was raised for the first time on August 31, 1957.
The flagpole is reputed to be the 12th tallest in the world after the Belgaum flagpole in India, which is 110m tall.
The current tallest flagpole in the world is the 171m Jeddah flagpole in Saudi Arabia. – Borneo Post Online, January 27, 2023
