KUCHING, Sept 7 — The Telok Melano to Sematan work package under phase one of Sarawak’s Pan Borneo Highway project has been completed in January last year, said Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
He said at the moment, the status of progress for the project’s ten work packages from Sematan to Miri was 54 per cent as of August this year.
“The Sabah and Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway project is an ongoing government initiative to improve the road infrastructure network in Sabah and Sarawak and will be carried out in phases.
“For Sabah, the progress status of Phase 1 up until August 2020 is 36 per cent for the 11 work packages that are being implemented while four work packages including the work package involving the route from Tawau to Semporna that had contracts terminated will be tendered again and is expected to be finalised this year,” he said in his written reply to Senator Dr Nuing Jeluing at the Dewan Negara session in Kuala Lumpur today.
He said following this, the implementation of the remaining 20 work packages for Phase One of Sabah’s Pan Borneo Highway project is subjected to the government’s current financial capability for the 12th Malaysia Plan.
Fadillah said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government will still respect the decision made by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to change the method of implementation for the Pan Borneo Highway project for Sabah and Sarawak.
“Initially, the termination of project delivery partner (PDP) is expected to provide savings to the government.
“However, the changes in the implementation model do not take into account the following issues being addressed by the government including the impact on project administration, contract changes, the welfare of staff involved and the need for capacity improvement and existing technical expertise,” he said.
Following this, he said mitigation plans and continuous follow-up actions are being implemented to improve the implementation methods that have been decided previously to ensure the smoothness and sustainability of the Pan Borneo Highway project as a catalyst for the development of the socio-economic, industrial and investment sectors. — Borneo Post
