Bintulu Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has demanded that the maintenance and repair of the Pan Borneo Highway project should be returned to the Public Works Department (JKR).

This came following a fatal accident which took the life of a 63-year-old woman who lost control of her car and crashed into the roadside cones at Jalan Sibu-Bintulu last Friday. Tiong said that the Pan Borneo Highway is still plagued by uneven surfaces and filled with unsafe construction practices. The condition of the road surface is also said to be more uneven than before.

_{The Pan Borneo Highway project is Malaysia's largest highway project and has many positive impacts.
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Tiong pointed out that the current body responsible for the maintenance works has done a poor job at upkeeping the road, thus urges that the entire maintenance project be handed back to JKR.

According to Tiong, road users who are not familiar with the road could be easily affected by hazardous road conditions.

“Many road sections are full of potholes, and signages and warning lights are non-existent. Is LBU (Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd) totally unaware of the state of the highway? Any potholes that appear must be repaired immediately and what’s worse is that safety precautions are not in place. The situation today is worse than before when JKR took over”. Tiong said he personally drove from Bintulu to Sibu on Saturday (June 12) and was surprised at the condition of the highway.

Tiong opined that the government should review the involvement of LBU and the work it has carried out and evaluate it in the field. At the very least, JKR receives, and acts based on public feedback and complaints.

He also urged all the relevant authorities to review the contract immediately as too many chances have been given to LBU but with no results.