Why does the road from Miri to Lawas pass through Brunei?

Limbang and Lawas are separated from the rest of Sarawak by Brunei Darussalam. The Public Works Department describes the existing link from Miri through Limbang and Lawas to Sabah as a 93.2 km road running through Brunei, with its upgrade packages bounded by the ICQS complexes at Sungai Tujuh, Tedungan, Pandaruan and Merapok. The Sarawak-Sabah Link Road is being built to provide an inland route that avoids Brunei.

When will the new Lawas airport be finished?

No current completion date has been published. When the project was announced in August 2022 it was to start in the first quarter of 2023 and finish at the end of 2026, with a 1,500-metre runway able to take ATR 72-500 aircraft. The Sarawak Ministry of Transport said in December 2025 that Phase 1 civil works had begun only in October 2025.

How long is the existing Lawas runway?

The Ministry of Transport Sarawak's airports listing gives the Lawas STOLport a runway of 758 metres by 17 metres. Limbang Airport's runway is 1,500 metres and is being extended to 1,790 metres. By comparison the same listing gives Miri International Airport 2,745 metres by 60 metres.

What is the SMART tower programme?

SMART is the rural tower component of SALURAN, the Sarawak Linking Urban, Rural and Nation initiative, which carries a RM2.3 billion state allocation. It covers 618 towers; 585 had been built and 480 were operational as at May 2025. Operating costs of RM207 million are shared with mobile operators for three years from 2024 to 2026, after which the operators take them on.

Limbang and Lawas: closing the connectivity gap

Q: How long is the Northern Coastal Highway and what does it cost?

It runs 87.96 km and costs RM6.8 billion. It is split into five sections, three in Limbang and two in Lawas, from Tedungan CIQS to Pandaruan CIQS and from Mengkalap CIQS to Merapok CIQS. RECODA gave the construction period as 48 months, and the project was launched on 1 November 2025.

Sarawak's answer to the connectivity gap in Limbang and Lawas is three road schemes worth more than RM15 billion between them, a replacement airport for a 758-metre airstrip, and a rural telecommunications programme carrying a RM2.3 billion state allocation. Most of it was launched or started between September 2025 and March 2026.

Why the two districts are a connectivity problem at all

Limbang and Lawas are separated from the rest of Sarawak by Brunei Darussalam, and the existing road link carries the consequences. The Public Works Department describes the route from Miri through Limbang and Lawas to Sabah as an existing 93.2 km road running through Brunei, and in July 2024 set out a three-package upgrade under the Trans Borneo Highway: 4.9 km from Kuala Baram to ICQS Sungai Tujuh, 54.6 km from ICQS Tedungan to ICQS Pandaruan in Limbang, and 33.7 km from Lawas town to ICQS Merapok, then still at planning stage. The package boundaries name four separate ICQS complexes.

Air access is similarly constrained. The Ministry of Transport Sarawak's airports listing gives the Lawas STOLport a runway of 758 metres by 17 metres and Limbang Airport a runway of 1,500 metres.

What the Northern Coastal Highway actually builds

The Northern Coastal Highway is 87.96 km long and costs RM6.8 billion. It is divided into five sections, three in Limbang and two in Lawas, running from Tedungan CIQS to Pandaruan CIQS and from Mengkalap CIQS to Merapok CIQS. Regional Corridor Development Authority chief executive Datu Ismawi Ismuni put the construction period at 48 months ahead of the launch, which was officiated by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg at Limbang Recreation Park on 1 November 2025.

The main components:

Two rest and service areas, at Tedungan and Pandaruan
Two bridges, at Limbang and Kuala Lawas
Trumpet interchanges at Gelugus and Terusan
A one-kilometre viaduct at Bukit Mas

What the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road does that the coastal highway does not

The coastal highway improves the existing corridor; the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road builds an inland one that avoids Brunei altogether. The Ministry of Transport Sarawak records Phase 1 as running 75.6 km from Lawas to the Long Lopeng junction at a cost of RM1.02 billion, standing at 57.6 per cent physical completion as at 31 July 2025 against 45 per cent financial progress. Phase 2 covers more than 335 km for RM7.6 billion, with more than 30 bridges and viaducts across four packages and a scheduled completion of June 2029.

Phase 2 was launched on 11 September 2025 at Nanga Medamit in Limbang. The Office of the Premier records Works Minister Dato Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi describing it as a "direct alternative route between Sarawak and Sabah without passing through Brunei", covering Miri, Limbang, Lawas and Ba Kelalan.

The 758-metre runway problem

Lawas is served by an airport that has operated since 1961 and was upgraded in 1996. Bernama reported in August 2022 that it was suffering flooding as well as growth in passengers and cargo, and that Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, then Deputy Premier and chairman of the Northern Region Development Authority, had specified a replacement with a 1,500-metre runway able to take ATR 72-500 aircraft, with construction to start in the first quarter of 2023 and finish at the end of 2026.

That timetable moved by roughly two and a half years. Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin said in December 2025 that Phase 1 of the new Lawas airport had begun civil works in October 2025. The same statement put the Limbang runway extension at 1,500 metres to 1,790 metres for completion in early 2027, allowing that airport to accommodate private jets. No revised completion date for Lawas was given.

How far the tower programme has actually got

Utility and Telecommunication Minister Dato Sri Julaihi Narawi gave the State Legislative Assembly these figures in May 2025. They are a snapshot of that date, not current numbers:

Internet coverage at 90.2 per cent, up from 84.8 per cent reported at the previous sitting
4,662 telecommunications structures completed, of which 4,446 were on air, with 216 due to follow by the end of 2025
585 of 618 SMART towers built, including 18 repeaters, with 480 operational
906 of 909 JENDELA Phase 1 towers completed, 795 of them carrying 4G

Those figures come from the ministry's report to the 19th State Legislative Assembly. The state allocation behind the rural build is RM2.3 billion under SALURAN, the Sarawak Linking Urban, Rural and Nation initiative, and in March 2026 Julaihi again put the SMART programme at 618 towers while urging village committees to cooperate on siting them.

The ministry said in November 2023 that Sarawak needs roughly 7,000 towers and structures for full coverage of populated areas, and that RM207 million of operating costs for the rural SMART towers would be shared with mobile operators from 2024 to 2026, after which the operators take them on.

The dates that matter next

Early 2027 — Limbang Airport's extended 1,790-metre runway is due for completion.
End of 2026 — the operating-cost sharing arrangement for the rural SMART towers runs out, and mobile operators assume the cost.
June 2029 — scheduled completion of SSLR Phase 2.
Late 2029 — 48 months from the coastal highway's November 2025 launch.

The Lawas airport carries no stated completion date. Civil works started in October 2025 on a project first announced for completion at the end of 2026.