TAWAU: Kalabakan MP Ma’mun Sulaiman said plans are afoot to turn Kalabakan into a district more advanced than Tawau while also being the economic gateway between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Besides having District Office, he said a Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex (CIQ), estimated to cost about RM600 million, would be tendered in August and that construction will take between three and four years.
He said this in a press conference during Merotai and Kalabakan Warisan Chinese New Year Open House at SJKC Yuk Chins recently that saw about 2,000 people attending.
“After the project is completed, it will enable both Malaysians and Indonesians to commute regularly between both countries particularly for business and trading.
“In addition, the Trans-Borneo Highway linking the highlands of Sarawak, Sabah and Kalimantan will boost development in the area when completed in the next 10 years. The proposed highway would be from Simenggaris in Kalimantan, Melinau, Kerayan and Long Bawan before crossing to Ba’Kelalan in Sarawak,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Assistant Finance Minister-cum-Merotai Assemblyman Sarifuddin Hata disclosed that there are about 3,000 Chinese voters in Merotai and that many are members of Parti Warisan Sabah.
He said the scenario showed that Tiong Hua communities have are in favour of Warisan.
It also indicated that Parti Warisan Sabah is a multiracial party and not just a party for the Malays or KDMRs.
