Serian, a bustling small town in Sarawak, will see two flyovers once the development off the Pan Borneo Highway reaches completion.

Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong hopes that the Serian District Council (MDS) and local coffee-shop owners would take advantage of this opportunity to make Serian a must-stop town for travellers.

He believes that with larger volume of traffic passing through, many travellers would want to stop and rest in Serian if the town is clean, has well-maintained landscape, provides ample parking spaces, and also houses eateries that offer better variety of dishes.

"Cleanliness is a must, and there must also be good landscaping. There must also be enough parking spaces because if there are not enough spaces, people won't stop" he said.

Manyin, who previously held the ministerial portfolio of infrastructure development and communications, pointed out that having two elevated carriageways would be a ‘big thing' for Serian and thus, he hoped everyone would do their part to make this an advantage for the town.

The Serian section of the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak project is under the Serian Roundabout to Pantu Junction (SPJ) works package, or WPC03, which involves the construction of two flyovers - one in front of the Louis Junction commercial centre, while the other is near Taman Tasik Danu.

Manyin said with two available tourism products, namely Taman Tasik Danu and Ranchan Pool, Serian must be ready to accommodate a higher number of visitors since it is unlike some other towns, which are bypassed by the highway project.

He also hoped that plans to build an iconic cable-stayed bridge, announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg last year, would be realised soon. Manyin also suggested to owners of coffee-shops and eateries to offer special dishes to visitors such as Serian's version of prawn noodles, instead of the usual ‘kolo mee' or ‘laksa Sarawak'.

According to him, other places like Gedong, Sarikei and Bintangor have proven to be the favourites among foodies for their respective speciality prawn noodles. This will benefit the economy and will boost tourist arrivals.