New road mulled to bypass Brunei
MIRI: The Works Ministry is looking into possibility of constructing an alternative road in Sarawak without going through Brunei to ease land travelling for motorists.
Minister Baru Bian said one of the options under consideration at the moment was to use MarudiLawas road as the proposed route to be diverted without going through Brunei.
“I do hope the present government would understand and agree to the implementation of this plan within the next five years,” he told reporters after attending Pfizer Malaysia Health Fellows appreciation ceremony held at a hotel yesterday.
Baru said the proposal was first brought up by himself during the winding-up session for his ministry at Dewan Rakyat recently and will be followed up soon as the plan would bring positive impact to the affected areas and benefit the people staying in rural areas in Baram, Limbang and Lawas.
He said, at present, motorists had only one choice to travel between Miri and Limbang by land, that is by crossing Brunei borders which is part of the second phase of Sarawak portion of Pan Borneo Highway project, which posed too many problems to the locals.
Baru, who is Ba'Kelalan assemblyman, said one of the problems were the strict traffic laws imposed by the neighbouring country such as on the use of tinted glass for vehicles.
For the record, Limbang MP Hasbi Habibollah had also voiced out the issue last year and called on the federal government to intervene after many Malaysian motorists were issued with tinted glass summonses especially those frequently travelling between Limbang and Brunei.
Hasbi proposed that the matter be discussed between Malaysia and Brunei as some motorists had to fork out RM180 to pay the summons to Brunei law enforcement agencies for having tinted glasses even though in certain cases it was not due to the vehicle owner's fault as the vehicles had its windows readily tinted by the manufacturer.
For the record, motorists also had to pass through eight Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) checkpoints and must have their passports stamped 16 times if they drove to and from Sarawak through Brunei to Sabah.
Meanwhile, Baru says he will personally monitor the progress of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sarawak and Sabah to ensure the construction of the mega project is both successful and timely.
He said for the first phase of construction, he plans to visit sites with ministry officials starting from Telok Melano in Lundu up to Miri, before proceeding to the Sabah section starting from Limbang.
Speaking when officiating at the Selangau District Teacher's Day celebration here on Saturday, he said it is the intention of the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led federal government to improve the road network system in Sarawak.
“As far as Sarawak is concerned, it (road network system) is still lagging far behind.
"Although faced with limited allocation, all the development plans will be intensified. I believe the PH government under the leadership of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be able to overcome the constraints left by the previous BN government," he said.
According to him, the PH government will focus on a holistic approach that is free from corrupt practices and abuse of position on all projects implemented through transparent management and conducted through open tender.
Phase 1 of the 2,325km Pan Borneo Highway is slated for completion in 2021, while Phase 2 is to link the highway to Sabah.
In his speech during the function, Baru said corruption among public servants needs to stop while abuse of power at all levels needs to be given serious attention.
In this regard, he believed that teachers could play a pivotal role in educating the community to become more responsible.
Towards this end, he assured that as Selangau MP, he would support activities implemented for education programmes.