THE previous Pakatan Harapan federal government already approved a road bypassing Brunei to link Sarawak’s northernmost districts with the rest of the state, said former works minister Baru Bian.

As such, he questioned the need for the state government to appeal for such a link.

Baru was responding to Assistant Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail’s appeal yesterday for the federal government to consider building a road connecting Limbang and Lawas with Miri.

Rahman is also assemblyman for Bukit Kota in Limbang.

Baru said the federal government had also informed Brunei of the plan.

He said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in first official visit to Brunei after assuming office in 2018, had come to an understanding with the Brunei sultan “that the Pan Borneo Highway would bypass Brunei”.

He also said the decision had not only proven to be a wise one in view of the Covid-19 pandemic with many countries closing their borders, but also a logical step so that Sarawakians will not need to have a passport to travel from one end of the state to the other.

Lawas is hemmed in by Sabah to the north and the Brunei district of Temburong in the south, while Limbang is hemmed in by Temburong and Brunei proper.

Getting to Lawas from Miri is a 259km trip on the only road that first passes through Brunei proper, then Limbang, back into Brunei’s Temburong for a short drive before exiting to Lawas.

There were fears that when Brunei closed its border to curb the spread of Covid-19, food and fuel supplies to Limbang and Lawas could be cut.

It was averted when the two states worked out a special arrangement to allow supply trucks to continue unhindered.

Baru also reminded the assistant minister that the PH government had, in November last year, also launched a new 425km road to link Lawas with Sabah.

He said the Sarawak-Sabah Road Link (SSLR) will connect Sarawak and Sabah in two stages – from Lawas to Long Sukang, Long Luping and Pa’ Brunut, and from Pa’ Brunut to Long Lama.

The SSLR is expected to be completed by 2030.

“Besides that, I also initiated the Trans-Borneo Highway to link the interiors of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan in Indonesia, which was expected to be completed in 10 years.

“The 2020 Budget had included funding of RM600 million for the first part of the project.”

Baru said the people in Sarawak had waited for “a very long time” for a proper road connection from north to south. – June 11, 2020.