Sarawak has successfully developed 33,513 km of road network, which comprises 18,805 KM of paved roads, 6,036 km of unpaved roads and 8,672 km of earth roads registered under Malaysian Road Record Information System (MARRIS).
The construction of Sarawak Coastal Road, with a total length of about 900 km from Sematan to Miri, which has been on-going since the 5th Malaysia Plan, has been completed. For areas, yet to be connected with bridges, subsidized ferries are being used as an interim measure.
The bridges that have yet to be built are at Batang Rambungan, Batang Lupar, Batang Saribas, Sungai Krian, Batang Rajang II, Batang Paloh, Muara Lassa, Batang Igan and Sungai Kemena. The bridges have to be built in order for the coastal road network to be connected.
Understandably, the State Government is looking at completing all the remaining nine (9) bridges along the Pan Borneo Highway, the earliest by 2021. By then, the coastal road network and coastal areas, which have been neglected, will be opened up for development.
The Ministry of Infrastructure development and Transportation has proposed to develop the Second Trunk Road, which will be sandwiched between the coastal road network and Pan Borneo Highway to connect Sarawak’s three clusters of population namely Kuching/Samarahan, Sri Aman/Betong and Sibu/Sarikei from Kuching to Sibu and vice versa. More than 60% of Sarawak’s population resides in these clusters.
The Minister of Infrastructure development and Transportation, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing, in his winding speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Yang di Pertua Negeri, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud for his opening speech during the last sitting of the State Legislative Assembly, said the construction of the Second Trunk Road would be divided into two packages
He said Package A from Samarahan, Roban and Sibu will be about 200 km in length, while Package B from Sebuyau, Sri Aman and Betong will be around 94 km in length. It should be obvious that the Second Trunk Road would contribute in terms of cost savings and opening up of areas, which had previously been inaccessible for development.
For example, the Second Trunk Road will shorten the length of the journey along coastal road from Sibu to Kuching of approximately 303 km by 100 km. The travelling time will be reduced to only two and a half hours from about five (5) hours to drive from Kuching to Sibu now.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing said a huge travel-time savings for the people, goods and vehicles will be gains in economic productivity and the development of idle lands into productive assets may mean that the return in the long run is more than what the people should consider about the development of the second trunk road.
The proposed Second Trunk Road will pass through the same bridges currently being proposed under the coastal road network to greatly shorten road travelled based on kilometers. The bridges are Batang Samarahan, Batang Sadong, Batang Lupar, Batang Saribas and Sungai Krian.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing thanked the Prime Minister, Dato Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak for making the dream of the people of Kapit possible with the approval of Kanowit/Kapit Road project during his recent visit to the area. All the projects involved have either been completed or under various stages of construction except for Nanga Ngemah to Nanga Temalat, which used to be referred to as the “Missing Link”
Dato Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak approved an allocation of RM150 million for construction of the 9.6km missing link from Nanga Ngemah to Nanga Temalat plus 5.1 km road by-passing Nanga Ngungun Resettlement Scheme.
He said the road users now can drive from Kanowit to Kapit with the completion of the missing link. So, for the first time in 54 years after independence, Kapit is connected to the rest of Sarawak. No longer will Kapit be an island within the island of Borneo. Therefore, the people of Kapit thanked the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak for making their dream possible.
Admittedly, there are still some remote areas in the State that are still not connected by roads except logging roads while others are only accessible via rivers. This makes it challenging to develop the areas for tourism and agricultural purposes.
He said there is a need for the Government to plan for rural air transportation, which will allow the products to be delivered to customers with the plan to turn places such as Bukit Sadok in Betong and Sungai Tunoh into Kapit agriculture hubs.
The planning of rural airfields should be based on needs and not wants. In this regards, the
Ministry has received a few proposals for rural airfields and will study them carefully based on the underlying principle of needs over wants.
He thanked the Federal Government, the Prime Minister, Dato Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak in particular for the approval of the Kanowit/Kapit Road project. All the projects involved have either been completed or under various stages of construction except for Nanga Ngemah to Nanga Temalat, known as the “Missing Link’ with a total length of 9.6 KM.
The Federal Government has approved an allocation of RM150 million for construction of Nanga Ngemah/ Nanga Temalat stretch of road plus 5.1 km road by-passing Nanga Ngungun Resettlement Scheme.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing said road users can now drive from Kanowit to Kapit, for the first time after 54 years of independence, with the completion of Nanga Ngemah/ Nanga Temalat stretch of road.
So, for the first time, after 54 years of independence, Kapit is connected to the rest of Sarawak. Therefore, the people of Kapit, now no longer an island within the island of Borneo, are very grateful to YAB Dato Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak for making their dream possible.
Admittedly, some remote areas in Sarawak are still not connected by road except logging roads while others are only accessible via rivers. This makes it challenging to develop the areas for tourism and agricultural purposes.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing said there is a need for the Government to plan for rural air transportation, which will allow the products to be delivered to customers with plans to turn places such as Bukit Sadok in Betong and Sungai Tunoh in Kapit to become agricultural hubs.
In short, the planning of rural airfields will be based on needs and not based on wants. Therefore, the construction will be based on needs and not wants basis. My Ministry has received a few proposals for rural airfields in various areas and will study them carefully based on the underlying principle of needs over wants.
He thanked the Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg for having appointed him as the Chairman of Upper Rajang Development Authority (URDA). He made the announcement during his visit to Kapit on April 25,2017.
He said ideally, the formation of URDA, should give better focus to the development of Upper Rajang River basin, which has a total an area of 38,934 square kilometers. The basin is larger than Pahang, which is only 36,137 square kilometers. The job will not be easy but pledge to do his best in delivering what is required of him for the area.
He said Kapit has been side-lined for the past fifty over years despite its contributions to the economy of Sarawak. While Upper Rajang basin was and still is the biggest producer of timber and agriculture products, once Balleh HEP dam project is completed, the area will be producing a total of 4,500 megawatts.
This will make Upper Rajang basin the biggest producer of electricity not only in Sarawak but in the whole of Malaysia. Obviously, the people or the State government cannot afford to ignore the river basin any more in view of its vast economic potential in development towards the year 2030 and beyond.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing said one of the major components that make up the total cost of goods exported or imported is the component known as “transportation-in” or “freight-in costs”. Within the “transportation cost” component, there is terminal handling, ocean freight-in, haulage, documentation, bunkering and so on.
Therefore, the Cabotage Policy refers to the transportation of goods or passengers between two places within the same country by a transport operator from another country. In layman’s term, the exemption of Cabotage Policy, means that foreign vessels will be allowed to move goods between domestic ports in Sarawak without having to engage local shippers.
Therefore, it is normal for consumers to assume that the cost of goods will reduce in proportion with the reduction in ocean freight, which is a component that is directly related to Cabotage Policy.
The shipping industry calculates the rate based on transit time and not distance. Therefore, to compare ocean freight charges for Port Klang to Kuching and Bangkok to Port Klang, both with transit time of 3 days and based on a 20-footer containerized cargo, depending on the size of the vessels, the ocean freight may vary within the region of +/- 10% of the benchmark prices.
The ocean freight form Port Klang to Kuching is at RM1, 830 while the ocean freight for Bangkok to Port Klang at approximately RM645. That is a difference of RM1, 180 for every 20-footer container.
However, because there are claims that exemption of the Cabotage would not lead to lower prices of goods in the State, then there has to be something else, other reasons why it is so.
If indeed the claim is correct, then exemption of Cabotage policy may not reduce the cost of goods imported into Sarawak.
A detailed study needs to be conducted to determine whether it is because of double handling or there are other factors within the transportation chain that may be overlooked. Another review on the effect will be conducted after six months by the Ministry of Transport Malaysia (MOT) because of the uncertainty due to complexities involved.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Government is willing to listen to the opinions and the input from the major stakeholders affected by the policy, namely, the consumers and the shippers. Whatever it is, Sarawak Government will take everybody’s views into consideration and come with a solution that benefits the majority of the people.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing believes that drunk driving is quite rampant in Sarawak, where the majority of non-Muslims drink. Besides endangering themselves, the drivers are putting other road users in danger.
He said his Ministry may propose that drivers caught driving under the influence of alcohol for a number of times, be taken off the road and suspended from driving for a certain period of time.
He noted that Sarawak has a high number of motorcycles on the road, coupled with motor cyclists’ high fatality rate at 70%. Motorcyclists, who speed beyond the allowed limits, refused to wear helmets or perform acrobatics stunts are endangering themselves.
He may suggest to the Ministry of Transport Malaysia (MOT) that ten (10) points to be deducted instead of deducting mere two (2) points for not wearing helmets. If the motorcyclists do not care for their own safety then the Government is duty bound to enact laws that will protect them from themselves.
Besides, the Ministry may look at heavier penalty and demerits for drivers, who do not follow the speed limits, for example, around school areas and hospitals, rather than deducting points based on speed alone,
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing said there is also a need, while Sarawak re-adjusts the demerit points, to appraise the infrastructural and ICT support to allow the demerit point system to be implemented in a more efficient manner.
It is imperative that the Government must have the necessary tools to ensure the safety of vessels within its territorial waters with a long coastline of 1035km stretching from TanjungDatu, Sematan to Merapok in Lawas. The tools must also serve to protect the marine environment from pollution due to maritime accidents.
The Marine Department Malaysia (Sarawak Region) has received 351 maritime casualty reports between 2006 and 2016. While 75% of the total maritime accidents in Sarawak Cargo involve vessels, tugboats and barges, 67% of maritime accidents occur within the SCORE region.
The coastline is installed with navigational aids, which include 7 units of lighthouses, 67 units of directional beacons and 81 units of buoy. The lighthouses are equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders for monitoring and observing the vessels as far as 120 nautical miles within Sarawak waters.
