MIRI – The rush is on to complete upgrades to the 1,000-km Pan Borneo Highway in Sarawak, from the southern tip at Kuching to the northern tip at Miri, in time for the visit of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
The king is coming to check on the highway during his visit in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebrations on September 16, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi announced today.
“The Agong will come to inspect the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
“His visit is in conjunction with this year’s Malaysia Day celebrations (September 16 in Kuching).
“He will journey along the Pan Borneo route to see for himself the progress of the highway’s upgrading.
“We (his ministry and the project contractors) are now trying our best to complete all the repairs and upgrading before the arrival of the Agong,” he told a press conference in Kuching today.
Nanta said the works must be completed in time for the royal visit, or at the very least, the sections under upgrading must be safe for travelling.
“We (the Public Works Department) are going to carry out an inspection tour of the highway routes over the next few days.
“I will be going for the inspection too,” he said.
Over in Miri, The Vibes saw that the works at the portion along the Sibuti and Miri districts are being fast tracked.
A drive along the route saw workers with heavy machinery like tractors and excavators busy levelling the highway’s surface and reinforcing the hillslopes and ravines next to the routes.
The Sibuti-Miri portion is about 60-km long.
The highway from Telok Melano in southernmost Sarawak to northernmost Miri is about 1,000km.
The Sabah portion of the highway measures about 600km. – The Vibes, August 15, 2023
