Fifty two years after the project was first mooted, construction of the Pan Borneo Highway has finally begun. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched the upgrading of an existing road to Bakun Dam from KM32 of the Bintulu-Miri trunk road yesterday, with Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem present, The Star reports. It will be toll-free, the PM said.
The project will be built in segments, starting from Tanjung Datu to Sematan, the 40 km stretch bringing road connectivity for the first time between the westernmost tip of Sarawak and the area represented by the Sarawak CM. This segment is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018.
Next up is the 740 km stretch from Sematan to Miri, which will begin construction in the third quarter of 2016, and is scheduled for completion in Q1 2023. The Sarawak portion from Tedungan to Merapok, sandwiched between Brunei, will see construction from early 2018 to early 2023.
The daily reports that the Pan Borneo Highway will mostly mirror the existing trunk road, and it involves the widening of the present three-metre wide single-carriageway into a dual-carriageway. Presently, the trunk road isn’t in good shape and requires major maintenance due to heavy usage. This means slow progress, estimated at 19 hours between Sematan and Miri.
Announced by the PM in Budget 2015, construction of the 1,663 km Pan Borneo Highway (936 km in Sarawak, 727 km in Sabah) would be fast-tracked under a public-private-partnership implementation model, with total cost estimated at RM27 billion. The highway is expected to bring economic benefits to the region. According to a Government study of Peninsular Malaysia’s North South Expressway, highway construction induces a multiplier effect of four times to the economy.
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Only Sarawak no Sabah. OK make us more looks village
“Announced by the PM in Budget 2015, construction of the 1,663 km Pan Borneo Highway (936 km in Sarawak, 727 km in Sabah) would be fast-tracked under a public-private-partnership implementation model, with total cost estimated at RM27 billion.”
Of course they give free because the crony UMNO contractors are making billions each from overcharging the Government. Ultimately, we still pay for this highway. Money comes from our LHDN money.
Many UMNO cronies laughing away
Dear, BN Kroni Banyak Gembira, FYI, there’s no UMNO crony thingy here. The fact is the Sabahan and Sarawakian contractors who actually got the projects. Pan Borneo Highway wil be toll-free. Pls get ur facts right. If u stil dont satisfy, we can meet to discus the topic. I’ll bring my facts to u.
dont you remember the Cahaya Mata Sarawak? formerly known as Chief Minister Sarawak yang punya? even UMNO not there….
One of the good decision by BN.
Borneo’s highways to be built by Borneo’s people. So DAP please do not membangkang for the sake of membangkang in this issue.
Iban/Dayaks who give the greatest supports to BN deserve the best treatment in return, and this is fair game.
BN should emphasize on Sabah Sarawak people who are grateful compared to the bunch of whiners in Peninsula.
Toll-free, u say? That’s what you said about EDL in Johor a couple of years back. Now the toll price freaking ridiculous, after someone somewhere cited gomen have to pay this much amount to this crony la, bla bla bla.
Want Malaysians to believe whatever you said? Oh please.
EDL is free for whoever using it in Johor, you only pay for it if you go to or coming from Singapore. And you forgot that other highways are also free in Johor; JB East Coast Highway, Danga-Kota Iskandar and Pasir Gudang Highway which is now being upgraded to 6 lanes.
52 years ago? Easily the world’s most difficult road project.
It may sounds like toll-free, but is it free from cronies alibaba hidden cost?
No wonder very happy to announce the gigantic amount RM27 billion cost. The quantity surveyor must be drunk quoted by overpriced con-tractors.
Tahniah fixed deposits.
Pan Borneo Highway sebenarnya sudah ada. lebuhraya 2 lorong sekarang . sudah sepenuhnya siap pada tahun 1997 . yg ni adalah upgrade kepada 4 lorong ..
sila check balik . Jangan sampaikan maklumat yg tak tepat
Updgrade to 4 lorong also costs money…can do without toll…but klang valley every corner must pay toll. Tak adil..tektik pancing undi. Cis.
Dari Mana Sampai Mana 4 Lorong? Pan Borneo masih Banyak 1 Up 1 Down lah!
gov need to define what highway specification. at least PLUS highway here minimum lane they have is 2 lanes/direction. If there is places alongside proposed highway with just one line each, then its not up to standards.
the one is I often used with long strecth of single line per direction is from Serian to Sri Aman, and Sri Aman to somewhere near to Betong.
expand north south highway pls! seriously only 2 lane at most stretch ??!!
After 52 years of waiting, its finally materialize. That’s how important Sabah & Sarawak are to the federal government. Well, better late than never. At least it’s toll free for now…
buat bisnes kereta sewa bagus ni
sabah still wait until when ?
Sarawak state election on the card!
For sarawak n sabar boleh free….1000km some more…in klang valley every lubang and corners kena bayar tol. Are we not making money for klang valley now? Ini semua mau pancing undi.
have you been to sarawak or sabah?
tau road condition of this so called highway?
kalau tak tau, diam.
Don’t u know there r lots katak bawah tempurung in semenjung? Some still think
sabah sarawak ppl living on tree houses. .
they just like to complaint about the small holes on their road.. never see big potholes and collapsed road under repair almost everyday in different segments of the road
do you know that the traffic volume over here at sarawak is too low for collecting tolls? Sapa nak bayar toll concession nanti? you nak bayar ke.
Klo bukan skrg bina, bila lagi…ada salah ke Federal government bina jalan utk Sarawak? Kita x bayar tax ke? Cakap jgn pakai lutut.
Nvr trust the barang Naik said..
Shud we be thankful now? Nahh…i bet my 6% gst this supposedly highway will never see the light of the day. Anyway, why give yhe jakuns over there something they will not have any ise of…better improve the existing highways here.
idiots like you are stupid. all our oil and gas and sawit goes to fix your butt hole.
No, you don’t have to be thankful. Just as a jakun like me am not thankful for the Sepang circuit or the Petronas towers that I don’t have any use of, let alone your racist Malayan ideologies.
jakuns dont use highway because they all naik kapal terbang. you know aeroplane, pernah naik tak kapal terbang? ke tgk gambar je?
That picture you used is not from the pan borneo highway. Dont mislead the public by posting inaccurate information. Sabah n sarawak has been neglected by our federal government for half an centrury! there is no such grand road systems here.
Danny, please put a remark that the picture shown is not the actual site? there’s no such multilevel stack interchange proposed . its misleading.
Where got misleading here.. the picture just a sample of Highway Under Construction… Everybody knows Pan Borneo Highway construction work just launching yesterday… You think Within 24hrs the highway work can done like those in the picture ka?
get your fact right, this article is about “upgrading of an existing road to Bakun Dam”
and about so called highway:
Pan-Borneo Highway 95.2pc completed
21 July, 2005
The Dewan Negara sitting was told Wednesday that the Pan-Borneo Highway is 95.2 per cent completed.
Minister of Works, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, said of the total length of 1047.18km, a distance of 997.18km was completed in 2002.
You are very2 dump one… That one not pure Highway lerrr, just standard federal road…
at least im not dumb, just dump facts on you.
and now you’re saying its federal road, as if they’re now working on a 3/4 lane highways. they’re just expanding the current ‘highway’ of single(90% of the road)/double lane ‘highway’
you should say menteri dump one, misleading people with the word highway since its not pure Highway lerrr, just standard federal road….
and one more, have you travel from sarawak to sabah via pan-borneo highway?
the term of misleading is “giving the wrong idea or impression.”
you said “Everybody knows Pan Borneo Highway construction work just launching yesterday”.. so the picture shown is giving wrong impression towards the project right??. How wrong is the term “misleading ” in this case?
and nobody said the project were done overnight. its still misleading to use that picture..
BN need vote. end story.
How come Sabah Sarawak get free toll! Semenanjung all tolls…even a bridge!
I would love to trade some with you. Please. Come and see the condition here first if u haven’t. Be thankful for what u have and don’t envy us for what is given to us.
sarawak government got money.
Come on. give them their right. They contributes so much money to malaysia from their oil and gas.
One side effect of our tolled highways is that our interchange designs tend to be complicated and expensive, to cater for the toll booths.
We are paying toll for using the highway as well as for collecting the toll.
Hopefully the Pan-Borneo Highway will have simple standard interchange design.
Good for drag races and top speed test. 740km is damn long wei!
And good for crash test also. There will be enough volunteers to be the crash test dummies.
you would think.
With such a big stretch of road and our infamous construction quality…..I’d be surprised you would be able to get much past 100.
potholes, poor signages, animals, lorry tyres sudden kinks on the road…what else did I miss out.
2018? Hopefully not like ECE2.. become 2028…
I hope for this when i was a kid, exactly 12 years old. Now i’m 35 and it’s only scheduled for completion in 2023. What can i do with this road? I am pissed, really but better than nothing. While i might not enjoy to see the development but i hope my kids get to see it.
Yes.. as long our next generation can enjoy it… is good if Govt could build Train Track as well.. Don’t like high speed one.. just a medium speed one should be enough & can enjoy old green forest on the journey.. damn nice woorrrr…
after 52 yrs …….
they only do small sections of the “highway”.
still single lane highway in most part.
state election coming
Upgrade the road leading to Bakun ? How many people go to Bakun dam ??? Sarawakian don’t be too happy. Mooted 52 years ago, might take another 50 years to complete. Remember the Rejang Bridge in Sibu. Took more than 20 years .
RM27Billion / 1663km = RM16.2Million per KM!
Songlap kaw2!! thats why very happy announce this project
I’m a Sarawakian, I do focus in Sarawak. In Sarawak, we do travel from one to another city/town with only one route, that’s Pan-Borneo ‘Highway’. And our road are all the way along the national boundaries between M’sia and Indonesia. As an example from Kuching to Sibu, we need to drive until the very south and then drive toward east and lastly toward to north. It’s something like doing a big U-turn to travel between these 2 places, and throughout all are winding roads, don’t even seem a interchange along the roads, the best is roundabout. And after all, the roads condition is 10x worse than Peninsular road, as my limited experience drove in Peninsular. Also, in Penisular the government do provide several of rest stops, but in Sarawak, we don’t have. At some areas we can’t even found a fuel station, if you ran out of fuel, and you’re truly unlucky with having no connection to make a SOS, you’re stuck, and spend your honeymoon along the road =D. Sarawak has joined Malaysia for than 50 years, I do heard from my dad, in 1980s, they drive from Sibu to Kuching spend more than 1 day, and they are not driving on the road, just the ‘rock’. We Sarawak do provides plenty of natural resources, especially petroleum. Our state are wealth in having petroleum, but our road is just ******* lobang all the way, and Mana Highway? There are many people paid their life in this Pan-Borneo “Highway”, it’s dangerous or so called “death” highway. Guys from Penisular, you are absolutely lucky, with limited sources, you have a better grade road than us. We, after 52 years, we just start to having a “promise” from the government, saying that Pan-Borneo is going to launch, estimate 2023, and do note that, this is not the first time we do received a promise about having a highway in Sarawak. Independence more than 60 years, and having a 4 lane of highway, it’s kinda a big joke to other oil countries. By the way, it’s still a good news for us, rather than nothing.
Next time don’t sell your vote for RM50 or a bag of rice, okay.
High cost for land compensation….not just cost purely for building the road.
shortchanged for 52 years!!!
the day that Sarawak and Sabah suffer from tol begin…
For those complaining only after 52 years out there …
1) Federal does not have the right on the state land ie Selangor water issue – land rights for the water pipeline
2) the issue of obtaining the land is a major issue (look back at how the existing North South Highway was built) it is not easy espcially when you are talking about indigenous people rights … believe me …TMI MKini will come and tell the whole world that G is cruel by taking their land … just watch out
3) federal and state resources
As being told, locally registered contractor only!
Germs
-previously worked on MRT-
Hi All
I am more interested in the technical aspect of the Pan Borneo “Highway”. The design of the road depends on the JKR standard. I am hoping to get at least JKR R5 with the design top speed of 100 km/hr. At the moment, most road along the existing road are R4(maybe) with the top speed of 90 km/hr.
It took me 6 hours to drive from Sibu to Kuching which is only 400+- Km. Along the way, there are dangerous logging truck with timber sticking out of their bucket and causes lots of death, these timber truck likes to travel at night due to less enforcement. There are palm oil tanker that carry heavy load and travel slowly and make over taking difficult due to their long vehicle body and the bendy and winding road alignment. Once you have pass all those, you will encounter local traffic as the main road are to connect all the small village and town together and local traffic only travel at 40 to 60 km/hr and make over taking dangerous as they might turn into any on the village at any turn when one is ready to overtake.
All in all, i still have some reserve on the announcement until more detail emerged. Plus, the soil condition in Sarawak is very different from south to north. I am glad to have a highway but not an uneven and bumpy one.
Thanks
TechGuy
Yes, I agree with you. The government should release a more technical aspects of the highway to the public. Is Pan-Borneo highway truly is a controlled access expressway?
Agree. If they are gona put U turns and roundabouts, and lots of small junctions on this ‘highway’, just call it a trunk road. It’s gona be embarassing for SS.
we only just know to make complaints there and there..never had been grateful what we had..peace and harmony.
Kutip toll – I’ll be damned
Don’t kutip toll – I’ll be damned. Its hard being najib u know nowadays. Not really sure what people want. But at least I know what your kak Ros wants.