Sarawak is seeking understanding from Brunei over the reinstatement of the Pan Borneo Highway project connecting Sarawak and Sabah that will cut into the country’s territory, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said.

The Deputy Premier said that he had conveyed to Brunei about the reinstatement of the project during his recent visit to the country.

According to him, the plan to build a highway as part of the Pan Borneo project that cuts into Brunei’s territory will be implemented through Sarawak’s coastal road development project.

“We had briefed the Brunei government about our proposal to continue the Pan Borneo project to build a highway connecting Sabah and Sarawak that cuts through Brunei, which had been cancelled by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.

“We also briefed them (the Brunei government) that we will continue this project through our coastal road project,” he told reporters when asked about the outcome of his recent visit to Brunei during a press conference at Wisma Sumber Alam here yesterday.

Explaining further, Awang Tengah said the proposed highway that cuts through Brunei had been approved by the then Barisan Nasional administration.

He also pointed out understanding with the Brunei government was already reached when the project was first proposed.

However, the project was dropped by Putrajaya when PH took over the administration after the coalition won in the 14th General Election in 2018.

With the re-approval of the project, Awang Tengah expressed hope the plan to build an integrated route crossing into Brunei’s territory through the Pan Borneo highway could receive similar cooperation and understanding as before the project was cancelled by the previous PH administration.

“We must brief them so that we can cooperate with them.

“They need to be informed about our road connectivity development project so that we can cooperate with them just like one we had previously which had been agreed to before the project was cancelled by the PH government,” he said.

He also said that he had shared with the Brunei government about the proposed northern coastal highway project, and gave an explanation on how all these road connectivity projects would be implemented during the same meeting.

“Secondly, we also explained about our overall road connectivity in the northern area, including Sarawak inroad, the road to the Indonesian border.

“Especially on how this is going to be integrated with the proposed northern coastal highway that we are going to implement,” he said.

“During the briefing, we also shared our plan to build a new airport and a new port in Lawas,” he added.

We had briefed the Brunei government about our proposal to continue the Pan Borneo project to build a highway connecting Sabah and Sarawak that cuts through Brunei, which had been cancelled by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.

Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan