KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has defended the progress of the Pan Borneo Highway project, saying an audit finding that it was 11.4% complete does not reflect the actual physical progress on the ground.
Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam said the management and implementation of Phase 1 of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway must be assessed in the context of contractor appointments, changes in the implementation model and the status of individual work packages.
Dr Joachim, who is also state Works and Utilities Minister, acknowledged delays in the project but said the government was focused on resolving site issues and strengthening project management to expedite its completion.
"The project's progress needs to be assessed based on its implementation timeline and actual work status," he said in a statement on Thursday (Oct 22).
Dr Joachim explained that the Pan Borneo Highway is a federally funded project, with the Works Ministry serving as project owner and the Sabah Public Works Department (JKR) acting as the implementing agency.
He said the project was initially carried out under the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) model, with 12 work packages launched between 2016 and 2018.
However, after the PDP model was terminated in September 2019, the project was converted to the conventional implementation method, requiring the restructuring of procurement and contractual arrangements.
"Since this was the first time such a transition was undertaken for a mega project of this scale, it required careful coordination and additional time," he said.
Following the transition, Sabah JKR was appointed as Superintending Officer, while 11 of the original packages continued under their existing contractors. Another package that had been terminated under the PDP arrangement was retendered, together with three new packages approved in 2021.
These 15 packages were grouped under Phase 1A.
Phase 1 of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway comprises 35 work packages covering 706km, with a total project cost of RM24.859bil.
As of Sept 30, RM11.792bil, or 47.37% of the total allocation, had been spent on contractor and consultant payments, land acquisition compensation and utility relocation works.
According to Dr Joachim, four of the 15 Phase 1A packages - WP27 Kampung Lot M-Sandakan Mile 32, WP05 Papar-Donggongon, WP21 Lahad Datu Bypass and WP15 Tawau-Semporna – have been completed to date, while the remaining 11 are still under construction.
He added that Phase 1A had achieved actual physical progress of 89.54% compared with a scheduled target of 96.23%.
Meanwhile, WP09 recorded physical progress of 40.83%, ahead of its scheduled target of 38.87%, while Phase 1B achieved actual progress of 25.55% against a target of 24.77%.
Dr Joachim said confusion arose after an audit report stated that Phase 1 of the project was only 11.4% complete.
He said the figure was based on the four fully completed work packages out of the project's 35 packages at the time of the audit.
"The 11.4% figure does not represent the actual physical progress of works on site because it only measures completed work packages and does not account for the progress of packages still being implemented," he said.
Dr Joachim stressed that the 11.4% completion figure and the 89.54% physical progress achieved under Phase 1A were based on different measurement methods and should not be directly compared.
Among the challenges affecting implementation were the transition from the PDP model, labour and supply chain disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic, land acquisition issues, utility relocation and the complexity of widening existing roads while maintaining traffic flow.
Despite the challenges, he said obstruction-free worksites for Phase 1A had reached 99.85% as of Sept 25.
He added that efforts were continuing to resolve remaining site issues, closely monitor contractor performance and implement recovery plans to accelerate completion of the outstanding work packages.
Dr Joachim also said both the Sabah Works and Utilities Ministry and Sabah JKR accepted the Auditor-General's findings as an opportunity to strengthen governance, project monitoring and contract management.
He added that the state government took note of the Public Accounts Committee's intention to investigate Phase 1 of the project and would extend its full cooperation.
