KUCHING, April 19 — Former Works Minister Baru Bian has asked Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing to clarify the extent of Sarawak’s funding for the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road (SSLR) and the exact stretch involved.

He said he was surprised to read Masing’s statement that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government is funding the SSLR project because that is not what the current Works Minister, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusoff, had announced in August 2020.

"If it is true, what has happened to the funds of more than RM900 million which I had reallocated to the SSLR project during my term as minister? Has it been diverted to another project in Sarawak or lost to a project in some other part of Malaysia?

"Funds that are meant for Sarawak should be spent to develop our infrastructure which is sorely inadequate if not lacking in many parts of Sarawak,” the Selangau Member of Parliament and Parti Sarawak Bersatu presidential council member said in a statement.

He said that while it was the Sarawak government’s prerogative to fund the SSLR, he was puzzled as to the reason why it would do so if the allocation had already been given by the Federal government,” he said in a statement today.

Baru said the 425km SSLR is a two-phase project with the first phase from Lawas to Kampung Pa’ Berunut and the second phase, from Kampung Pa’ Berunut to Long Lama. — Borneo Post