MIRI – The completion of the Pan Borneo Highway upgrade funded by the federal government at a cost of about RM16 billion will spark off a massive transformation of urban and rural Sarawak.
Sarawak Deputy Tourism, Culture and Talents Creation Minister Datuk Sebastian Ting, today said that the project is so important that it has even drawn the personal attention of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“The king wants to come and see for himself the progress of the Pan Borneo Highway upgrade – that is how important the project is.
“We in Sarawak can expect to see massive social and economic transformations sparked off by this upgraded highway that will see the creation of new townships with commercial-business opportunities.
“Already, the prices of land and property along the Pan Borneo route have shot up,” he told The Vibes when interviewed.
“This can be expected to continue as a good network of highways and link roads are the foundation for sustained progress.”
The Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP) secretary-general, also said that there is a plan for a Greater Miri development corridor that will span the 60km route along the Pan Borneo Highway from Miri city to Bekenu town.
Ting is also the assemblyman for Piasau in Miri city centre.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department Datuk Gerawat Gala, who is in charge of project monitoring, labour and immigration, told The Vibes that the impact of the upgraded Pan Borneo Highway will be felt way beyond the urban districts.
“Every rural district can be connected to the Pan Borneo Highway via link roads.
“That will surely help to open up tremendous business opportunities and social growth for the rural population living beyond the Pan Borneo Highway routes,” he said.
For example, the rural parts of the vast Baram district in the interior of Miri district will be linked via feeder roads to the Pan Borneo Highway, he pointed out.
“These feeder roads from Pan Borneo Highway in Baram will be linked even to the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road that has already been approved by the federal government.
"From all these plans. we can see how important and far-reaching the impact of the Pan Borneo Highway upgrade will be," he said.
Gala is the assemblyman of Mulu, which is in the Baram district.
The rush was already on to complete the upgrading project of the 1,000km long Pan Borneo Highway in Sarawak – from the southern tip of Kuching to the northern tip of Miri – in time for the king’s visit.
Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah will be coming to check on the highway reconstruction progress during his visit in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebrations on September 16
Over in Miri, The Vibes has observed that the works on the highway along Sibuti and Miri are on the fast track.
A drive along the route showed workers with heavy machinery like tractors and excavators busy levelling the surface of the highway and reinforcing the hillslopes and ravines next to the routes.
The highway from Telok Melano in southernmost Sarawak to northernmost Miri stretches about 1,000 km. In Sabah, the highway measures about 600km. – The Vibes, August 17, 2023
