A SARAWAK assemblyman has appealed to the state government to give “urgent attention” to a key road in remote Ba Kelalan that leads to the border crossing into Indonesia.

Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian said the road was “dangerous to drive on”.

The works minister in the 2018 Pakatan Harapan government said work on the unpaved road from the Lun Bawang village of Buduk Nur to the Sarawak-Kalimantan border, which had been churned up by the rain, should commence without delay.

Baru said he is making the appeal after receiving a number of reports that the road is in extremely bad condition, making it dangerous to travel.

It will be part of the RM80 million road the state is building from the settlement of Long Lupeng to the border that Deputy Premier Awang Tengah Ali Hasan announced last October.

That road would later be integrated into the federal-funded Sarawak-Sabah Link Road project – 425km of roads to link 14 major towns in Sabah and Sarawak.

Baru said since Awang Tengah had acknowledged that Ba Kelalan is strategic, being on the border with Kalimantan, apart from having great potential to increase the marketing aspect of agricultural products and eco-tourism, the deputy premier should direct that work on this road “be commence without delay”.

Awang Tengah had also said the road would help facilitate the provision of electricity and clean water supply for rural and inland areas as well as telecommunication tower infrastructure.

Baru said the Buduk Nur road is crucial as the customs, immigration and quarantine station is being built at the end of it.

He said the people from the village of Puneng Kelalan are the ones who have to use it daily and are finding the drive stressful.

It is also damaging to their vehicles, he added. – January 12, 2023.