THE anticipated January completion of a Bailey bridge spanning Sungai Tutoh in Baram on the 398km-long first phase of the Sarawak-Sabah link road (SSLR) is expected to eliminate the danger in driving in that part of remote Sarawak.

Phase one of the SSLR is from Miri to Limbang and Lawas, by-passing Brunei.

Without the bridge, motorists could only cross the river by driving across at its shallowest point when the water level is really low, said Singa Buas who drives a four-wheel drive vehicle, a common mode of transport in Ulu Limbang.

“It’s a risk they all have to take,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

And they have to cross by going against the current, he added.

The bridge, reportedly hit by a slight delay over non-payment of workers’ salary, is expected to be usable from January 24.

That stretch of the SSLR, between Long Lama and Long Seridan in the interior of Limbang division, is expected to shorten the 10-hour journey from Miri to Long Seridan.

“It will not only shorten the travelling time.

“It surely will make travelling for the thousands of people in Tutoh to as far as Long Seridan, Magoh, Limbang and Lawas safe and more convenient,” said Singa.

Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof had in May said phases two and three of the SSLR were in the process of management and price evaluation.

He, however, said the stretch from Lawas to Pa Berunut, had already begun construction.

The entire length of the SSLR is projected to be completed in 2026. – December 5, 2023.