style="text-transform: uppercase;">Kuching: It was a mostly smooth, sometimes bumpy but altogether enchanting drive to the north-western coastal town of Pekan Sematan, about 100km from the State capital. The forested hills, the rocky boulders, meandering rivers and villages all make for a scenic and memorable journey through rural Sarawak.

Slow-moving lorries carrying crude palm oil, construction materials and living goods reminded us that the two-lane single carriageway is a main route for commerce that is about to grow in importance as part of the Pan Borneo Sarawak Highway.

Work has already begun to link Sematan, which is in the Tanjung Datu constituency of Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem, with Telok Melano, more than 30km further north at the coastal tip close to Kalimantan.

Adenan had pushed hard for the Pan Borneo Sarawak Highway, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched in September 2015.

The Pan Borneo Sarawak Highway will cut across the state from Telok Melano in the northwestern tip to the eastern Merapok town in Lawas where it will connect with Sabah.

The Pan Borneo Highway covering the two states is estimated to cost RM27 billion, with RM14.2 billion allocated to the Sarawak side stretching over 1,089km. The entire length of the highway will be 2,239km.

Work has already begun to link Semantan to Telok Melano, and is causing much excitement among the locals.

The Sematan folk are mostly fishermen and farmers, some are boat operators and others tourist guides.

The young people, if not at sea or tilling the land, prefer to work in the cities.

Telok Melano is a village with 200 to 300 residents in similar lines of work. Some of the younger ones are tourist guides, taking advantage of the proximity of the Tanjung Datu national park – which, at 14sq km, is the smallest in Sarawak but arguably the most beautiful.

There are no proper roads on the rough terrain between Telok Melano and Sematan, and travel is mostly by sea. – Bernama