KUCHING: Sarawak’s first trunk road, which is about 1,500km in all, will become a dual carriageway by 2025, said Deputy Works Minister Datuk Yong Khoon Seng.
“For the Sarawak portion, it will cost approximately RM9bil. For Sabah’s portion, which is about 1,000km, it will cost around RM7bil. This is a long-term commitment with a clearly laid out plan. It cannot be built overnight, or over two or three years, but definitely, by 2025, according to the plan, it will be done,” Yong said on Friday.
Interestingly, Yong said the upgrade was actually announced late last year.
“It was confirmed when we (in Parliament) were debating about the Budget (2013). I hope everybody understands here that we cannot complete it immediately. For this year, we will be addressing black areas (accident-prone stretches) and add overtaking lanes all along.”
The poor state of the road, which is the only land network connecting Sarawak to Sabah and all towns and cities within, has for a long time been a public grouse.
Source: The Star
