MIRI – Local contractors will be given the responsibility of handling the main package of construction works for the Sarawak-Sabah TransBorneo Highway.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said Putrajaya wants to give the main project to local contractors, not international contractors as initially planned.
“I will be meeting the prime minister soon on this matter.
“We want to see how we can speed up the construction process and we want to use local contractors, not international contractors as we want full local involvement.
He explained that the road link bypassing Brunei is crucial as it is expected to spur tremendous regional developments along the Sarawak-Sabah boundary.
“It will also help overcome the enormous problem faced by road travellers of having to endure long waiting queues and pay expensive charges to go through Brunei,” he said at Pesta Babulang in Limbang town.
In its latest updates today, the State Public Communications Unit quoted Fadillah saying that the federal Works Ministry is already looking into the contractors’ matter.
Sarawak Deputy Minister for Regional Development and Agriculture Modernisation Datuk Abdul Rahman Ismail recently said the construction of the TransBorneo Highway feeder roads from the town of Lawas has already begun.
Lawas is located in the northernmost district of Sarawak, after the Brunei border.
Sarawak Public Communications Unit quoted Abdul Rahman saying that the construction process will be in stages and will take a few years.
“The process to build the TransBorneo Highway to link Lawas, Limbang and Miri while bypassing Brunei has started,” he said, explaining that construction has started on the stretch between Lawas town and Merapok.
“The Limbang-to-Mulu route will also start construction while the Limbang-Merarap-Lawas route will start construction soon,” he said at an Aidilfitri gathering in Lawas town.
The Sarawak state government and the federal government have been talking about building such a highway to link Miri to the northernmost portion of Sarawak to Sabah bypassing Brunei since the 1980s.
However, until now, nothing had materialised yet.
The need for such a highway is vital as travel costs and long queues at immigration and customs checkpoints to go through Brunei are huge problems for those travelling daily for social and economic purposes.
There are eight immigration and customs checks that a driver from Miri will need to go through to travel through Brunei and reach Lawas via Limbang.
Miri is separated from Limbang by about a 200km stretch of Brunei land.
Limbang is sandwiched between two Brunei borders while Lawas is separated from Limbang by another piece of Brunei territory.
Lawas town to Sabah is only 30 minutes by road. – The Vibes, May 21, 2023
