PAC urged to probe 2019 termination of Sabah Pan Borneo Highway delivery model

 GRS secretary-general Armizan Mohd Ali says the inquiry should examine whether ending the Project Delivery Partner model contributed to delays and higher costs.

GRS secretary-general Armizan Mohd Ali said the coalition’s MPs want the PAC to examine the current status of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway and policy decisions that had affected its progress. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) MPs will submit a memorandum to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), urging it to investigate the reasons for the termination of the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) model for Phase 1 of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project in 2019.

GRS secretary-general Armizan Mohd Ali said the MPs wanted the PAC to examine not only the highway’s current status but also past policy decisions that had affected its progress.

“This is important to ensure that policy changes are not driven by partisan political considerations at the expense of efforts to improve road connectivity for the benefit of Sabahans and the state’s development,” he said in a statement.

Armizan welcomed the PAC’s decision on Oct 19 to investigate the management, financial governance and physical implementation of Phase 1 of the highway project following the release of the Auditor-General’s Report Series 2/2026 on Oct 5.

The report flagged issues such as project delays, inadequate site preparation, design changes and non-compliance with contract terms.

Armizan said the PAC’s investigation should be comprehensive and transparent, identifying the causes of the delays and ensuring that all parties involved in decisions concerning the project and its implementation provided explanations.

The Auditor-General’s Report revealed that only four of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway’s 35 packages under Phase 1, or 11.4%, had been fully completed as of March 31, while the remaining 31 were still being implemented.

The project was originally scheduled for completion by the end of 2021.

MyIPO steps up efforts to nurture young innovators

Separately, Armizan, who is also the domestic trade and cost of living minister, said the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation (MyIPO) is stepping up efforts to nurture innovation and raise awareness of intellectual property (IP) protection among young people through its IP SPARK 2026 programme.

Armizan said the initiative under MyIPO’s NextGen programme introduced students to the development of creative ideas, producing innovations and protecting intellectual property with commercial potential.

He said the initiative supports the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), which emphasises greater value creation through intellectual property to strengthen the country’s research, development, commercialisation and innovation ecosystem, reported Bernama.

“One of the key targets under the 13MP is for Malaysia to rank among the world’s top 20 countries in the Global Innovation Index by 2030,” he told reporters after closing IP SPARK 2026 today.

Themed “Ideas, Create, and Impact”, the two-day programme, which began yesterday at SMK Benoni and SMK Pengalat in Papar, brought together 120 participants comprising school students and trainees from the National Youth Skills Institute. - FMT