Firm responds to recent statements on Pan Borneo Highway project

KOTA KINABALU: In response to the recent statement in the media on the Pan Borneo Highway Sabah (PBHS) project, Borneo Highway PDP Sdn. Bhd. as the Project Delivery Partner (PDP), would like to clarify as follows.

The Project Delivery Partner Agreement (PDPA) to implement the Pan Borneo Highway Sabah (PBHS) project is between the Federal Government, the Sabah State Government and Borneo Highway PDP Sdn. Bhd. (BHP).

The project is governed by processes that have been deliberated and agreed to by both the Federal Government and the Sabah State Government.

Each and every stage of the implementation of the Pan Borneo Highway Sabah (PBHS) project has gone through deliberation and decision making processes involving various stakeholders of the Sabah State Government and Federal Government.

The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Finance at the Federal level, as well as the Ministry of Infrastructure Development Sabah, and the Sabah Public Works Department at the State level, are the key government ministries and departments involved in the decisionmaking process for implementation of the project.

The direct involvement of the ministries and departments in all processes related to the project is to ensure proper governance and prudence in the implementations of the project. BHP is working closely with the Sabah Public Works Department, the Land and Survey Department, Environmental Protection Department, Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Sabah Forestry Department and all associated stakeholders of the State Government to ensure the success of the project.

Each of the ministries and departments’ roles and functions are clearly defined in the Project Delivery Partner Agreement (PDPA) signed by both the Federal and Sabah State governments as the Project Owners and Borneo Highway PDP Sdn. Bhd. (BHP) as the PDP.

Besides, the continuous and close monitoring of the project by the relevant ministries and departments is intended, among others, to ensure efficient utilisation of funds budgeted for the project.

To date, out of 35 work packages under Phase 1 of the project, 12 work packages have been awarded, all to local Sabahan contractors, and are being implemented. Only one contract was terminated by BHP due to poor performance of the contractor, in accordance with the provisions in the Agreement. The remaining 11 work packages are currently on-going and the delay in some of these work packages is mainly due to delay in land acquisition process and payment of land compensation, where the land has been acquired, and delay in the progress payment for contractors. The award of the remaining 23 work packages is pending approval by the authorities.

With 12 work packages currently under implementation, BHP alone has employed 250 staff, of whom about 90 percent are local Sabahans with half being technical professionals. Overall, between the PDP, consultants, contractors and suppliers have so far provided about 2,500 jobs for local Sabahans, which includes about 800 technical professionals.