706 km of Pan Borneo Highway by end 2021
KOTA KINABALU: All 35 packages under Phase One of the Pan Borneo Highway project will be tendered out by the first quarter of 2018, said Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd CEO, Shahelmey Yahya.
The project will see the completion of 706 kilometres of Phase One of the highway project scheduled to be completed on December 21, 2021, he added.
Speaking to reporters after a gettogether with the media yesterday, Shahelmey disclosed that the project is worth RM12.86 billion.
“This is Phase One of the Pan Borneo Sabah Highway project which is divided into 35 packages for this region. Five packages are now under construction, Packages 6 and 7 were just launched and 10 more packages are awaiting approval from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
“Our target is to get the approval for the 10 packages which are all located in Sabah’s west coast, from south west to north west before the end of the year. That means we will have 17 packages worth RM7.2 billion.
“Another 18 packages will be tendered out progressively within the first quarter of next year. So by the end of the first quarter of 2018, all the 35 packages should be under construction,” he said, adding that Phase One of the Pan Borneo Highway Sabah project is worth RM12.86 billion in total.
He explained that the construction of the road will also include the 114 km Tuaran-Kudat coastal road as part of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s ‘Aku Janji’ (My Promise) in the 13th general election.
The single lane dual carriageway road, he said, will be from Serusop, Tuaran to Simpang Mengayau, Kudat, and the Serusop, Tuaran to Simpang Mengayau, Kudat will be called the Tuaran-Kudat coastal road to fulfil the PM’s ‘Aku Janji’ made in the 13th general election.
Shahelmey also disclosed that Package Eight of the project, which is from Tebobon to the Berungis, Tuaran roundabout will see the upgrading of the current dual lane carriageway road into a three-lane dual carriageway.
Other than this stretch, the rest are dual lane dual carriageway, he said, adding that the project is more or less on schedule with just a slight delay.
“But we can manage the risk. We have the Rural 5 (R5) standard that we have to comply with and this is under the Public Works Department’s Technical Order,” he said.
Shahelmey disclosed that the road once completed would be of a different standard to the ones we have at the moment.
“The road would provide a safer route, faster traveling time and more efficient. The speed limit is 90 km per hour. If it is a toll road, we can go for 110 km but this is partial access control so we have to design to cater for a slightly lower speed to make sure that the roads will be safe,” he said.
On the issue of delays in the road construction that was raised in the recent State Assembly sitting, Shahelmey explained that the delay was caused by land acquisition issue which they are dealing with the state Land and Survey Department to ensure that all lands involved in the construction of the highway will be acquired and the compensation to the owner(s) resolved.
“We are working closely with the Land and Survey Department and the issues raised have been identified and will be resolved soon. Under the project, the Government acquires the land through Section 3 of the Sabah Land Ordinance. At the same time they have to carry out the process, like serving notice, issue evaluation offer and pay compensation to the land owners.
“As I have mentioned, the weaknesses have been identified and many land owners are having doubts about whether the compensation payment can be settled in the near future, but it has been proven that their doubts are unfounded and many of their peers have received their payment,” he said.