Ministry concerned about PM’s statement on Pan Borneo delays
KUCHING: The Ministry of Works expressed serious concern yesterday about Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement regarding delays with the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sabah.
Minister of Works Baru Bian said the ministry would work with the Sabah government to further study and evaluate the matter.
In a press statement, he revealed that 12 work packages have so far been appointed contractors ( WPC) in various stages of the construction, with progress between 1 and 37 per cent.
“The ministry found that there are three main factors contributing to the construction delay including land acquisition, supply inadequacy (construction material, manpower, and construction machinery), and internal delay in payment process in resolving technical issues,” he said.
“Basically, land acquisition is a jurisdiction of the Sabah government through the Land Department and Survey (JTU) Sabah. Considering that land acquisition work is on a large scale, JTU Sabah has put efforts into improving and speeding up the process without neglect on procedures implemented, while taking into account the interests and rights of affected landowners.”
He noted the large scale Pan Borneo Highway project in Sabah led to the constraints in terms of inadequacy in supply of building materials, skilled and semi- skilled labour, as well as construction machinery equipment.
To overcome this, Baru said the government has directed the project delivery partner ( PDP) to discuss and coordinate with WPCs to find and recommend an alternative method to address this problem.
“Recently, the government has resolved some technical issues for payment to WPC through PDP. Thus the delay in the payment process is expected to be avoided in the future,” he said.
“Payments to WPC parties through PDP will only be executed once the claim is reviewed and authorised by the government.”