The road after the road: Beyond Pan Borneo Highway

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by Yvonne T

It’s the difference between hours and minutes. It’s shaving precious time off journeys that once consumed entire days. It’s a vital artery for goods moving across the State, a thread stitching together rural communities scattered across Sarawak’s vast and sometimes unforgiving terrain. It’s shortening distances so the focus can be on what matters: progress, opportunity, and development.

The Pan Borneo Highway is more than just an infrastructure, it is fundamentally a symbol of progress, regional connectivity, and shared prosperity, serving as the transport backbone bridging East Malaysia’s vast States.

In Sarawak, the Pan Borneo Highway has transformed from an ambitious vision into a near-complete reality. Progress has accelerated dramatically over the past decade, with the project now entering its home stretch. With less than one per cent of the highway left to complete before Sarawak is fully connected by a continuous road network, attention is increasingly turning to the next question: what comes after the Pan Borneo Highway?

Connecting Sabah and Sarawak

At the fourth 2025 Parliament Meeting held in December 2025, Minister of Works Dato Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi announced that the second phase of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sarawak has been rebranded to the Trans Borneo Highway and Northern Coastal Highway (NCH) projects which consist of the upgrading and construction of highways that would eventually link Sabah and Sarawak.

The Trans Borneo Highway is under the purview of the Ministry of Works (KKR) and is currently progressing through the procurement and tender process. Physical construction for the Miri section commenced in early 2026. Meanwhile, the NCH is expected to be implemented by the Regional Corridor Development Authority (RECODA) under the supervision of the Sarawak government.

Providing an update during the Sarawak Legislative Assembly sitting in May 2026, Deputy Premier and Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the three sections Trans Borneo Highway and NCH projects spanning Miri, Limbang and Lawas were progressing steadily.

Stretching across 93.25 kilometres, excluding sections passing through Brunei, the project carries an estimated cost of RM2.48 billion. The Miri section, which runs from the Miri Industrial Training Institute to Sungai Baram and covers 4.95 kilometres, is expected to be awarded in July. The Limbang section, spanning 54.6 kilometres, and the Lawas section, covering 33.7 kilometres, remain at the tender stage.

Once completed, these upgrades are expected to improve traffic flow and significantly enhance connectivity from Miri to the Brunei border, while strengthening road links through Limbang and Lawas towards Sabah.

The Reach

The Trans Borneo Highway and NCH represent more than road upgrades; they are the connective nerve linking Sarawak to Sabah, and threading remote communities into the wider network of the State’s main economic lifeline. These projects are also further reinforced by the Sarawak Sabah Link Road (SSLR), which aims provide a seamless overland route across the State, removing the longstanding reliance on border crossings through Brunei.

The second phase of the SSLR, which commenced on June 24, 2024, was officially launched in Limbang, in September 2025 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim alongside Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

SSLR Phase 2 (SSLR2) continues from Phase 1 (SSLR1) which started in 2021 and aims to connect Lawas to Long Lopeng. As of June 2026, the SSLR1 has reached 71.16 per cent completion and is expected to be completed by March 2027. The SSLR2, meanwhile, has reached 11.39 per cent physical progress as of June 2026. With an estimated project value of RM7.6 billion, the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR) has been appointed as the implementing agency. The project is targeted for full completion by 2029.

A Lifeline for Rural Communities in Northern Sarawak

These roads will benefit none more so than communities living in Northern Sarawak. While the Trans Borneo Highway and NCH projects will improve urban connectivity, the SSLR2 will deepen the road network into the interior and bringing previously isolated communities closer to essential services and market opportunities.

Spanning approximately 335 kilometres, the SSLR2 encompasses far more than road construction. It includes the development of bridges, flyovers, street lighting and comprehensive drainage systems, while adhering to stringent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements and environmental protection measures. The SSLR2 will also feature Sarawak’s first road tunnel under Package 4, with a proposed length of approximately 2.24km, significantly reducing the need for hill cutting while shortening travel distance from about 22.4km to just 7km. This tunnel, according to a post on JKR Sarawak’s Facebook page, is expected to be located at Bukit Pagon, Lawas.

The route will connect Long Luping to Ba’Kelalan, Nanga Medamit and Mulu through four main construction packages, significantly strengthening connectivity across Sarawak’s interior and providing communities with improved access to essential services, markets and economic opportunities.

When completed, SSLR2 is expected to serve as a catalyst for greater regional integration, bringing safer, modern and more reliable transport links to areas that have long remained on the periphery of development. Together with SSLR Phase 1, the project will complement major transport corridors such as the Pan Borneo Highway, the Trans Borneo Highway and the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah, creating a more integrated road network across northern Borneo.

This is also further complemented by the Miri-Marudi, Marudi-Mulu, and Long Panai–Long Lama (MMMLL) road project implemented by the State government through RECODA. The MMMLL route will eventually link to the SSLR, the Northern Coastal Highway and the Pan Borneo Highway.

For communities that have long relied on difficult journeys and limited access, these roads represent far more than improved mobility. They are pathways to healthcare, education, economic opportunities and stronger social connections. If the Pan Borneo Highway laid the foundation for connectivity across Sarawak, the next generation of highway projects promises to extend that progress to some of the State’s most remote corners.

Voices of the People

For many Sarawakians, the impact of improved connectivity is not measured in kilometres of road built, but in the opportunities those roads create. No statistic captures what a road means to a community better than the people who have lived without one.

For Pang Ibang, a Kayan from Long Sela’an in Ulu Baram, today’s road network is almost unimaginable compared to the long and arduous journeys she endured in her younger days.

She remembers a time when there were no proper roads connecting her village to the outside world. Travelling to the nearest town meant navigating rivers by boat, trekking through difficult terrain on foot, and relying on rough logging roads. The journey could take up to a week, often just to sell jungle produce and other goods. Sometimes, when there were no boats, they couldn’t go at all.

“It’s much better now. The roads are there, compared to before, when we had to use boats and sometimes, we can’t go at all when there are no boats,” she recalled, the weight of those years still present in her voice.

“Now, we can get to town in less than a day.”

Her hopes for the Pan Borneo Highway stretch beyond the road itself. She wants future generations to reap its benefits and push forward the development of the State, to uplift the communities by paving way to remote areas so they too can rise alongside the development of the State.

For Lahai Laing Oyo, the Pan Borneo Highway has already begun to change things. A Kayan craftswoman and owner of LLO Enterprise from Long Bedian, Baram, she opined that better connectivity means a wider market for the traditional wares she and her kampung produce.

The expanding road network allows her to travel more easily to northern Sarawak, where many Orang Ulu communities are concentrated, opening more opportunities to showcase and sell traditional handicrafts.

She is grateful for the infrastructure that has become a lifeline for her small business, making journeys from her village to urban centres such as Miri and Bintulu considerably easier.

“It takes only four hours now to reach Miri from my kampung in Baram. The road is much better.”

Still, she hopes connectivity can be improved further.

“But I hope for roads that connect directly to my kampung so that it is easier for us to bring our crafts and business out of the kampung,” she said with a chuckle, explaining that her community still relies on smaller feeder roads that eventually link to the main highways.

A Highway of Adventure

Former Pujut assemblyman Dato Andy Chia Chu Fatt has witnessed the transformation of Sarawak’s road network firsthand.

He recalled a time when travelling from Miri to Bintulu was a difficult ordeal, with gravelled road impeding journeys between the two vital urban nodes of Sarawak. Over the decades, those roads gradually evolved into single carriageways before becoming the modern four-lane dual carriageway of the Pan Borneo Highway, offering a safer way of travel.

He sees something deeper in that too. The highway, he says, lets travellers experience the true essence of Sarawak. By travelling through towns across the highway, it offers an opportunity to learn the different communities and cultures of Sarawak.

“It’s improving the domestic tourism here. A lot more people are taking the opportunity to drive along the highway. From here all the way to Kuching, along the way, they drop by different towns, spend a night in different towns.”

Beyond the completion of Pan Borneo Highway, Chia hopes to see more improvement in the road, particularly for roads connecting to important facilities such as to the Miri Airport.
“If there is better road, it would encourage more airlines to come in to this area. It will also be easier for us, it’ll take less time for us to reach the airport, whether from Miri city or from Bintulu area.”

He also looks forward to the completion of the Marudi-Mulu road connection which would improve the tourism in Miri, particularly given the Mulu National Park located there.
However, he stressed the importance of balancing development with environmental preservation.

On Sarawakian Land

Further north, lawyer Barry Baru Sigar, who hails from Ba’Kelalan and now resides in Limbang town, sees the upcoming connectivity projects through a more personal lens.

For him, projects such as the SSLR and the NCH represent something many northern Sarawakians have long hoped for, the ability to travel entirely within Sarawak without crossing international borders.

“If we have our own road, passing through our own land, we are free to go through these roads at any time,” he said, referring to how the SSLR could reduce the inconvenience of crossing multiple checkpoints between Sarawak and Brunei.

“For the Northern Coastal Highway, we look forward to the improvement of the road condition. It will also make it easier to travel, cutting traveling time between places.”

For Ernie Lian of Long Tisan, Marudi, the upgraded roads reaching what were once isolated rural communities represent more than improved connectivity. They bring greater economic opportunities while allowing people to remain connected to their roots and way of life in the kampung.

Already, road upgrades have begun transforming travel from her village. Former logging roads are gradually being replaced by tar-sealed roads, significantly reducing travel times to Miri and other urban areas.

“We hope that the roads will be widened, making it easier for us to go back to our kampung, to the farm and send our products to the city and elsewhere. And it’ll also make it easier for us to visit the elderly who prefer to stay in the kampung,” she added.

For now, she said, the feeder roads linking rural communities to the Pan Borneo Highway have already made a noticeable difference, enabling residents in the Marudi area to travel more conveniently to major urban centres such as Miri and Bintulu.

Pockets of Opportunities

Beyond the highway itself, three designated Rest and Service Areas (RSAs) are set to rise along the Pan Borneo Highway in Sarawak with one, in Jelukong near Sri Aman, already completed.

The Public Works Department Malaysia (JKR) Sarawak’s Pan Borneo Highway Unit had earlier announced plans for two more RSAs at Sungai Arip and Lambir, according to a report published in March 2023.

More than just pit stops, these RSAs are envisioned as a convenient facility for travellers, offering spaces to rest, recharge and perform prayers, while enhancing safety along long stretches of road.

But their significance stretches beyond motorists. The RSAs are also poised to become economic centres, where local entrepreneurs can carve out opportunities through food stalls, eateries and even weekly markets. In many ways, they represent how infrastructure can ripple outward, turning highways into catalysts for commerce, tourism and small business growth for communities along the route.

Bridging the Gaps

More than just concrete projects, the Trans Borneo Highway, NCH, and SSLR represent a bold effort to bridge both geographical and developmental gaps across northern Sarawak.

KKR stressed that the success of these projects depend on the commitment of all parties including the Federal Government, State Government, contractors and local communities.

With the spirit of close cooperation and close monitoring, these projects are believed to be a new landmark in the development of the country’s infrastructure towards a more inclusive and prosperous Malaysia and Sarawak for the well-being of future generations.

For the people of Sarawak and Sabah, these roads are more than long-awaited infrastructure upgrades. They are answers to years of anticipation and prayers, promising safer, smoother and more efficient journeys.

Beyond the ease of travel, they carry the promise of economic expansion, stronger connectivity and better quality of life for generations to come. – DayakDaily

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