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Photo shows the completed internal road linking Daleh Long Pelutan and Uma Bawang. — Photo from Facebook/Regional Corridor Development Authority
MIRI (Feb 9): The Highland Development Agency (HDA) has built a new tar-sealed road connecting Uma Akeh, Telang Usan, to Long Lama town.
Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said the road has made growing commercial cash crops such as pineapple more economically feasible as the travelling time has been slashed to just 10 minutes.
He said Uma Akeh villagers can look forward to commercial agriculture and other economic activities with the tar-sealed road in place.
Dennis called on the villagers to revive commercial pineapple cultivation as RM600,000 had already been invested in this venture, which was derailed by poor road connectivity earlier.
“It is an opportune time for serious commercial crop cultivation with this good road. It is now only 10 minutes away from Long lama town,” he told The Borneo Post.
Separately, he said it was disappointing that an internal road connecting Daleh Long Pelutan and Uma Bawang was given priority instead of access from the Samling main logging road.
“I am not sure why they changed it to connect internally Daleh Pelutan and Uma Bawang as the access roads were not built yet and they are still suffering due to landslides, flooding, and are vulnerable to being cut off during monsoon season,” he said.
In a Facebook post earlier this week, the Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) said HDA has already delivered the 13.8km gravel road upgrading project to meet R1A road standards, built drainage structures, conducted geotechnical work, and installed road furniture.
“My initial plan was to build 10km of road connecting these two villages to the main road but the headmen preferred the internal road to be built first and I do not want to quarrel with them,” Dennis explained when asked about complaints on the soggy access road to the two villages.
Providing rural connectivity is HDA’s topmost priority and 159km of R1 road has been approved under the first phase of the infrastructure development in Telang Usan constituency, which was allocated RM750 million.
Dennis said there is much ground to cover as a 1,000km dirt road network currently connects 88 villages in his constituency.
“This first phase involving only about 160 km of R1 modified standard and the 20km of dirt road from Samling road to Daleh Long Pelutan and Uma Ake will have to take longer to materialise than my initial plan,” he added.
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