Kota Kinabalu: Deputy Chief Minister I cum Works and Utility Minister Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam said the State Government has allocated RM150 million annually for 10 years starting from 2023 under the State funding to upgrade gravel roads throughout Sabah.
“This money goes to fixing SRT2 and SRT3 roads managed by the Public Works Department (JKR) and non-qualified roads under local authorities across Sabah,” he said in his winding-up speech on Wednesday.
“My Ministry also works to get additional Federal funding through the Rural Road Programme (JALB) from the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW),” he said.
Addressing concerns from Merotai about the Sapulut-Kalabakan road, Dr Joachim said repairs have been done at critical spots using the cold in-place recycling method.
“For Jalan Gudang Empat (7.016 kilometres long), the worst damage is between kilometre 2.7 and 4.0, caused by heavy trucks working on a dam project.
“The concession company is responsible for implementing monitoring work, including routine inspection work, on this road with a frequency of once a week.
“Besides road patching work, the concession company has also carried out small-scale repair work, namely localised repair on this road,” he said.
He said small-scale repairs prevent damage from worsening, but will not last long because heavy machinery transporting soil for the dam project is still very active.
“Badly damaged sections will be temporarily downgraded to unpaved roads.
“Reconstruction or large-scale repair work on this road will only begin after dam construction work is completed to ensure repaired roads do not suffer damage caused by construction activities,” he said.
He pointed out that for the Merotai-Kalabakan road (80.974 kilometres), 17.326 kilometres (21 per cent) is moderately damaged (Rating Three), 24.439 kilometres (30 per cent) are severely damaged (Rating Four) and 3.5 kilometres (five per cent) are very severely damaged (Rating Five).
“The estimated backlog repair value for Jalan Merotai-Kalabakan is RM14 million (Rating Three), RM50 million (Rating Four) and RM12 million (Rating Five),” he said.
He said the road is currently maintained monthly under routine maintenance and has been included in the proposed Pan Borneo Highway Phase Three construction programme for long-term planning.
“My Ministry will submit to the cabinet for special allocation to be given for repairing major State roads throughout Sabah, including Jalan Merotai-Kalabakan,” he said.
Responding to Nabawan on bridge issues, Dr Joachim said two bridges on the main road to Pekan Nabawan have been approved for implementation through Federal Government funding from KKDW.
“The first is upgrading the Sungai Pancuran Bridge at kilometre 0.20 on Jalan Nabawan Township, approved under RMK12-RP2. Construction began on March 25, 2024, with an original completion date of Sept 24, 2025 (18 months).
“However, this project was temporarily suspended on Feb 18, 2025, to apply for a project ceiling increase, which was insufficient due to utility diversion costs exceeding the department’s rough estimate,” he said.
He said the second is upgrading Sungai Nabawan Bridge at kilometre 0.05 on Jalan Kraftangan, approved under RMK12-RP4. Work started on Dec 13, 2024, with completion expected on July 13, 2026 (18 months).
He noted, however, that the contractor failed to enter the site and only started work in late May 2025.
“Warning letters dated Feb 25, 2025 and March 10, 2025 were issued, along with a notification letter on April 7, 2025, about the contractor’s failure.
“Besides that, temporary diversion construction work was also affected due to utility issues (water and telecommunications).
“However, all utilities were diverted on Nov 26, 2025 and the contractor is completing the temporary diversion so permanent bridge construction can begin,” he said.
Additionally, he noted that for roads in Nabawan, Jalan Pamuntarian Kabu Baru-Kg Lima and Jalan Pamuntarian to Ulu Mosopoh have been identified by the JKR and listed in the database for the next Rolling Plan application.
Responding to Banggi, Dr Joachim said the total road length under the JKR’s responsibility on Pulau Banggi is 42.670 kilometres, with 17.670 kilometres of paved roads (SRT1) and 25 kilometres of gravel roads (SRT2).
“These gravel roads are Jalan Palak (13.3 kilometres), Jalan Laksian (3.2 kilometres), Jalan Laksian II (6.6 kilometres), Jalan Karakit (0.6 kilometres) and Jalan Maliyu (1.3 kilometres).
“All these gravel road alignments have been included in the gravel road maintenance contract that began on Nov 10, 2025, and continues until Nov 9, 2028, where routine, periodic and emergency maintenance work is included in the maintenance contract scope,” he said.
For Sook, his Ministry has proposed major roads such as Jalan Kg Rimbayan, Kg Bunang, Kg Johan Jaya and Malima for upgrading under the road construction programme, to be included in future Rolling Plan applications for federal funding.
A total of 31 road projects in Sook have been proposed under the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13) using State funding.
“There are no shortlisted bridge projects in the Sook constituency area in the RP1 RMK13, but through Federal Government funding (KKDW), a bridge project to upgrade Sg Sook Bridge at kilometre 0.200 Jalan Tongulon Jaya (Kg. Delayan Baru), Sook, Keningau, has been approved in the RP5 RMK12 for implementation and is currently at the tender procurement stage,” he said.
