LAWAS, March 23: The proposed 88km Northern Coastal Highway (NCH) megaproject, which aims to strengthen bilateral ties between Sarawak and Brunei, will contribute to Limbang and Lawas’ economic growth through a five-year socio-economic development plan.
According to a recent statement from the Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda), Deputy Premier and Northern Region Development Agency (NRDA) chairman Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said that the Sarawak government is funding the NCH megaproject, which will connect Limbang and Lawas via Brunei and then to Sabah.
He also stated that the proposed NCH road alignment will take into account future development needs such as the proposed New Lawas Airport.
“Limbang and Lawas are strategically located within the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), and we are poised to capitalise on Indonesia’s new capital’s relocation to east Kalimantan,” he said.
Recoda yesterday launched a two-day NRDA Socio-Economic Lab in Lawas, bringing together local elected officials, community leaders, public servants, and stakeholders in the hopes of achieving the five-year socio-economic development plan.
The lab will collect feedback and baseline data for the NRDA Strategic-Economic Development Plan (2022-2026), which will include an overall analysis of the northern region’s socio-economic landscape.
Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister of International Trade and Investment, said yesterday that the economic potentials of Limbang and Lawas must be fully explored in order to ensure balanced and sustainable growth in line with the Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030).
“The objective is to turn Sarawak into a developed state by 2030 and to ensure balanced economic growth among all the regions in Sarawak.
“We want to make sure that no one area can be said to be suffering from under-development,” he said.
He went on to say that the lab brought together not only experts in their fields, but also community leaders and representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“We are obtaining the input and views not just from the top-level experts but also from the grassroots,” he added.
Yesterday’s lab is part of a series of socio-economic labs that began on March 3 in Miri by the Highland Development Agency (HDA) and will conclude on March 28 in Sibu with a final lab by the Upper Rajang Development Agency (URDA). — DayakDaily
