Batang Lupar Bridge No:1 officially opened on 21 May 2026 at a cost of RM848.7 million, and is proudly promoted as a mega development project for Sarawak. But Sarawakians must ask an important question: Who actually paid for it?
The bridge was initially announced as a Federal project under the Barisan Nasional administration, with the understanding that the Federal Government would play a major role in funding such strategic infrastructure.
However, after the change of the Federal Government following GE14 in 2018, several major projects in Sarawak were reportedly reviewed, deferred, or delayed by Putrajaya on the grounds of financial constraints. Among them was the Batang Lupar Bridge project.
What happened next speaks volumes.
Instead of abandoning the project, the Sarawak Government under GPS decided to continue using Sarawak’s own financial resources. In other words, Sarawak had to use its own money to ensure the bridge became a reality.
This raises a deeper issue that every Sarawakian should reflect upon:
If Sarawak can fund multi-billion ringgit infrastructure projects ourselves, what does this reveal about the true wealth of Sarawak?
For decades, Sarawak’s oil, gas, timber, hydropower, and natural resources contributed massively to the Federal coffers. Billions upon billions flowed out from Sarawak to build and develop other parts of Malaysia. Yet when Sarawak urgently needed strategic infrastructure, we were told there was “not enough money”.
Why should Sarawak continuously depend on Federal approvals and allocations when Sarawak itself is resource-rich enough to finance its own development?
Batang Lupar Bridge is therefore not merely a bridge across a river. It is a symbol of a larger political reality:
Sarawak has long possessed the economic strength to stand on its own feet.
The real issue has never been whether Sarawak is poor.
The real issue is how much of Sarawak’s wealth has been centralised, controlled, or drained away for decades while Sarawak continued to lag behind in roads, healthcare, education, water supply, and basic infrastructure in many rural areas.
Sarawakians must start asking:
If Sarawak’s own money was used to build the bridge, why should Sarawakians be endlessly grateful to Putrajaya for returning only a fraction of what has long flowed out from our land?
Sarawak asks for control over the wealth generated from Sarawak’s own soil.
A bridge funded by Sarawak’s own resources should remind every Sarawakian of one simple truth:
Sarawak is rich. Sarawakians must benefit first from Sarawak’s wealth. The wealth of Sarawak should not be used to develop other parts of Malaysia, especially Malaya, but Sarawak.
In Quest Of Independence
PartiBumiKenyalang
23 May, 2026
