The construction of the Ba’kelalan-Bario road under the Civic Action Programme (Jiwa Murni) carried out by the Armed Forces is expected to be completed by March 2018 said Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

Hishammuddin said the second phase of the project which was launched last month covers a distance of 21 kilometres and is being build at a cost of RM128.55 million.

“The first phase of the Ba'Kelalan-Bario road project that covered a distance of 13 kilometres and started on Jan 9, 2013, has been completed and opened officially last month,” he told reporters after the opening of a multi-purpose arena at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Petra Jaya in Kuching today.

The arena, built at a cost of RM2.1 million, was opened by Works Minister Fadillah Yusof.

The Jiwa Murni is a programme carried out by the Armed Forces as a service provider through expertise from the armed forces personnel to design and build roads and other infrastructure.

- Bernama