KUCHING, May 23 — The Sarawak government is planning to take over former logging roads, including wooden bridges, that connect settlements in rural areas such as Baleh constituency.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development Datuk Aidel Lariwoo said the move is to ensure better and more organised road access for residents.

"So far, there are 5,297km of logging roads that connect various rural settlements in the state.

"Of that total, 3,293km are still active logging roads, while 2,004km are no longer in use,” he said in response to a question from Nicholas Kudi Jantai (GPS-Baleh) at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) here today.

Aidel said 312.8km of former logging roads have been successfully registered under the Village Roads category through the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris).

"The active logging roads stretch over 1,172.60km and unregistered roads remain under the responsibility of logging concession companies,” he explained.

He said the state government is working to take over 188km of former logging roads, including the wooden bridges along those routes.

He explained registering these former logging roads under Marris would allow the government to secure financial allocations for maintenance.

"This registration also allows the former logging roads to be classified either under State Roads (JRN) or Village Roads (JKPG), depending on their respective criteria and specifications,” he said.

He emphasised that this initiative is a strategic move to enhance rural infrastructure and narrow the development gap between urban and interior areas. — The Borneo Post