Semporna MP Shafie Apdal said there were previous plans to establish a customs, immigration and quarantine centre to connect North Kalimantan with areas on the east coast, notably Tawau.

“Tawau is (an east coast) area rich in natural resources such as timber, oil palm, hardwood, and others. There is also tourism value in the east coast, particularly in Semporna,” he told reporters after a breaking-of-fast event in Kota Belud last night.

“But when we look at the (proposed project), there is no route there.”

Shafie also said there was significant trade flow between North Kalimantan and Tawau.

“If we visit North Kalimantan, most of the goods sold at shops in Kalimantan come from Tawau. There is a connection between Indonesia and Malaysia that we should be exploiting,” he said.

The Warisan president said he planned to raise these concerns with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and eventually Parliament to maximise the potential benefits of the Trans-Borneo Railway project for the country.

Yesterday, Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor said the proposed project would enhance people-to-people connectivity and boost the economy in the region.

Hajiji, in a statement, said works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said last November that his ministry had received a preliminary proposal on the Trans-Borneo Railway project.

Nanta said the idea for the mega railway linking Sarawak and Sabah and eventually connecting to Kalimantan came from the transport ministry, and that the federal government had approved a financial allocation specifically to carry out a feasibility ground study on the routes within Sabah and Sarawak.

The first phase will connect cities from West Kalimantan to the east coast of Borneo, beginning in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, and ending in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The second phase will involve North and East Kalimantan with the main route connecting with Samarinda and with Nusantara, the new capital of Indonesia.