Asean Bridge in Miri to be free from June

Filepix of the Asean Bridge in Miri

KUCHING: The Asean Bridge connecting Miri and Brunei will be toll free for local users from June.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem said on his Facebook that the RM10 one-way charge will be cancelled.

"Toll charges for Asean Bridge at Kuala Baram will be cancelled for local users June 2015. Sik payah mok berbayar tol agik," said Adenan, repeating the message in Bahasa Sarawak in the latter half of the post.

It is not immediately clear if local users include Sarawakians or all Malaysians.

In the last State Legislative Assembly sitting in April, when the subject as brought up, Adenan indicated that Bruneians make up the vast majority of users of the bridge. It is likely that toll charges for
foreigners would be maintained.

In the same Facebook post, Adenan announced that the ferry fee at Marudi, a village town bordering Sabah and Brunei, would be a reduced to a nominal RM1 by July.

Adenan's announcement quickly received more than 2,000 'Likes' within the first hour.

The Asean Bridge, the longest in the Miri Division at 7.8km including access roads, was completed in 2003.

Of the four bridges in Sarawak that can be charged toll, the Asean Bridge rate was the most expensive.

Sibu's Lanang bridge toll, which had just been cancelled, started at RM3, while the toll bridge across Sarawak River in Kuching starts at RM1.6. The concessionaire for Igan Bridge, also in Sibu, never charged
toll.

All these toll bridges will become part of the 1,000km Pan Borneo Highway, which is being upgraded from the Pan Borneo Trunk Road.