KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah portion of the Pan Borneo Highway was delayed because in 2019 the state government changed the implementation method, state works minister Shahelmey Yahya said.
Shahelmey, who is also a deputy chief minister, said the state government decided to recommend to the federal government to terminate the project delivery partner (PDP) method and the associated agreement.
The move was wrong because, by terminating the PDP agreement, financing for the project also ended, thus causing delays, he said, according to Bernama.
“Through the PDP agreement, financing was expected to come from development funding and the issuance of sukuk. After the PDP agreement was terminated, financial resources for the project were solely through the development allocation, which was very limited.
This resulted in only 15 packages being implemented out of 35 in total. The remaining 20 packages were postponed and only reapproved last year,” he said in a statement today, responding to a question from Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan-Kota Belud) during a special chamber session in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Isnaraissah wanted to know why progress in Sabah was so slow compared to Sarawak.
During the session, works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said that land acquisition delays and changes in project implementation methods had led to slower progress in Sabah compared to Sarawak.
Shahelmey added that financing for the Sabah section of the highway was different to that of Sarawak, where the sukuk issue was carried out first, thus providing the financial resources for the entire package.
He said the federal government approved the remaining 20 work packages last year and, with the approval, the Sabah public works department has prepared all the requirements for the remaining packages to commence.
“The design and tender documents are available, while the value management lab process was also completed at the end of October 2023.
“As of today, contractors have already been appointed for four work packages,” he said.
He said the physical work for these packages will start on April 1, while the remaining 16 packages are still in the procurement process and they are expected to be finalised next month, with work expected to begin in May. - FMT
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