KUCHING: The federal government has set aside an additional allocation of more than RM1 billion for infrastructure development at the borders of Sarawak and Sabah.
In announcing this, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said with Jakarta’s recent decision to relocate Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, to Kalimantan province, Malaysia must seize the opportunity to further develop the borders of both states.
“Therefore, I approved another additional allocation amounting to more than RM1 billion for the border’s development,” he said.
He said this at the 2023 National-level Malaysia Day celebration held at the Stadium Perpaduan here in Petra Jaya this evening (Sept 16).
He also said that he has instructed Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof to expedite the completion of Pan Borneo Highway, surpassing its scheduled completion date.
“There are no more excuses for not completing it as soon as possible. Sarawak is more advanced, but there are some parts (of the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway) that need to be settled, especially in Sabah,” he said.
In addition to the highway project, Anwar praised the Education Ministry (MoE) for resolving the issue of dilapidated schools across the country, including Sabah and Sarawak, by October this year.
“We have responsibility in ensuring the importance of sustainability driving the economy. But it would not make any difference if our people are poor.
“And that is why, our plan for this year is to weed out extreme poverty nationwide. We want to weed out extreme poverty from Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Pahang, Kelantan or Johor or anywhere in the country.
“We want to help them and make sure they exit extreme poverty and do not remain poor in the following years,” Anwar said.
