Rep wants PH govt to proceed with previous Pan Borneo route
LIMBANG: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government should proceed with the proposed construction of the previously agreed Pan Borneo Highway project (across Brunei) while waiting for the new Pan Borneo route to connect the interior parts of Sarawak.
Batu Danau assemblyman Paulus Palu Gumbang said the route of the previously agreed-upon Pan Borneo project that has been identified and is only waiting for implementation, will shorten travelling time compared to the proposed new route bypassing Brunei.
“We are not against PH government’s proposal for the new route of the Pan Borneo to connect the interior.
“However, while waiting for the project to be implemented we hope that the previously agreed route too will be built, as it will take time to construct the new route,” he said when met by the media after a gotong royong programme to repair the house of an underprivileged Mai @ Dom Bujang of Rumah Ajut, organised by Saberkas Batu Danau Unit Ulu Pandaruan/Kubong yesterday.
Paulus was asked to comment on the decision by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the Pan Borneo Highway project connecting Sarawak and Sabah without crossing Brunei.
Last Monday Dr Mahathir during a question-and-answer session after presenting a lecture at Universiti Brunei Darussalam said Malaysia and Brunei had in principle agreed that the Pan Borneo Highway would not be built across Brunei.
The agreement, he said, was reached during a meeting between him and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Nurul Iman Palace in Brunei in conjunction with his official visit to the country.
On the gotong royong Paulus, who is also Saberkas Batu Danau chairman said that the programme was part of their activities to encourage active participation of especially youths in the economic development of the communities in their respective areas.
The repairing of the house costing RM5,000 was part of Saberkas Batu Danau’s community service projects to reach out to the less fortunate and disabled.