MIRI – The Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong have arrived in Miri to start the second part of their Pan Borneo Highway tour, and in all, they are scheduled to complete a total of 2,154km along the land route by September 13.
Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah have already finished visiting the Sabah portion of the highway of about 700km.
The royal couple have also visited and passed through Sarawak’s northernmost district of Lawas and checked out the highway section there measuring about 100km before visiting Brunei.
They had met Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and passed through some 300km of the neighbouring country before entering Miri in Sarawak at about noon yesterday.
They are now scheduled to travel southwards to Bekenu district and Bintulu and beyond, until they reach the southernmost tip of Sarawak at Telok Melano, a distance of another 1,000-plus km.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and local dignitaries greeted the king and queen at the Sg Tujuh immigration checkpoint, with a crowd of a few thousand waiting to see them as they drove past.
“All in total, the king and queen will have completed 2,145km of their Pan Borneo adventure by the time they arrive in Telok Melano on September 13,” the Sarawak State Public Communications Unit said in a press release.
“They will then be in the state capital of Kuching for the grand ceremony of Malaysia Day on September 16 celebrations at Stadium Perpaduan Kuching.”
In Miri yesterday, the royal couple visited the Miri Handicraft Centre, the Coco Cabana beach resort and Kg Pangkalan Lutong.
They are slated to visit the scenic Pantai Bungai in Bekenu today.
From there, they will travel to Bintulu, Tatau, Sibu, Saratok, Sri Aman, Serian and Lundu before ending up in Kuching. – The Vibes, September 10, 2023
