KUCHING: The final stop of the 11-day Kembara Kenali Borneo tour for Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah will be KM 0 of the Pan Borneo Highway in Telok Melano.
Telok Melano-Sematan stretch, which is located around 33km from Sematan town in the southwest of Borneo, is the first completed section of the Pan Borneo Highway, opened to the public since January 2019.
It serves as the starting point for the Pan Borneo Highway and runs through the eastern part of the Samunsan Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as the Tanjung Datu National Park and Gunung Gading, which are popular attractions. This stretch is one of the legacies of the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem, the former Chief Minister of Sarawak from 2014 to 2017.
Originally, the highway was planned to only cover Sematan to Miri, but upon Adenan’s request, the sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, approved the Telok Melano package, incurring an additional cost of RM580mil.
Since the opening of the Telok Melano-Sematan stretch, villagers in the area no longer have to rely on boats to reach Sematan, particularly to access basic amenities. The journey from Sematan to Telok Melano via the road now takes only 27 minutes to reach KM 0.
The area’s main attraction is its beach, which is situated near two villages, Kampung Telok Melano and Kampung Telok Serabang. It has become a popular spot for recreation during weekends and public holidays, contributing to the local economy through the growth of homestay businesses and small enterprises along the beach.
The residents, who were mostly fishermen and small-scale farmers in the past, now have better economic prospects with the expanding opportunities in tourism-related activities.
Al-Sultan Abdullah and Tunku Azizah arrived in Kuching on Tuesday and spent the night there before embarking on a 137km journey to reach KM 0. The Kembara Kenali Borneo tour started in Tawau, Sabah on Sept 3, covering a total distance of 2,154 km, including stops in Brunei and Sarawak.
Al-Sultan Abdullah will officiate the groundbreaking of the Telok Melano Mosque and visit several attractions in the area before returning to Kuala Lumpur later in the evening. – Bernama
Credit: The Star : News Feed
