IDS workshop discusses causes of delay in Pan Borneo Highway project

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah law enables the government to compulsorily acquire private land for public use and the owner will not be able to challenge it.

Nevertheless, the landowner can challenge the amount of compensation given to him or her in the event he or she is dissatisfied, said Institute of Development Studies Sabah (IDS Sabah) chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun.

He added that the matter involved the State government since land comes under the jurisdiction of the state government.

Speaking at the IDS-organised Workshop on a Systems Approach to Infrastructure Development to the Pan Borneo Highway case, Simon said the challenges in acquiring private lands in Sabah were among the causes of delay in completing the Pan Borneo Highway project.

“The construction of a highway involves many agencies. I notice that in Sabah one of the main causes of delay is the acquisition of private lands. It becomes complicated when landowners who are illiterate are affected,” he said.

“Land is very precious (to the people). The relationship between land and the people is very close, almost sacred,” he went on.

He added that anything that disrupts such relationships generates violent reaction and protests.

“It is important to make them (the people) understand that the issue is between public and private interests.

“If the government is unable to enter a private property to build roads, no development can be implemented and that is not good for the state and the people.”

Simon also stressed that the state government must act in a fair manner by treating everyone equal before the law.

“I have known of a case where the landowner was unfairly compensated simply because he was unable to articulate his rights and too poor to afford the services of a lawyer.

‘I have also known of a landowner who happened to be in the position of authority and influence and the proposed road had to change direction to avoid passing through his land. This situation produces a road of least resistance,” he added.

In addition to the land acquisition challenge, the other cause of delay for the project is the lack of funding.

On this matter, Simon said that Sabah deserves to have such a road, given that the state contributes a lot to national revenue.

He said he cannot accept the fact that what is due to Sabah, which is the 40 percent net revenue collected from the state, is not delivered back to the state.

“All the revenue goes to the Federal government. The 40 percent never came back.”

He proposed that instead of sending 100 percent to the Federal Government, only 60 percent should be given to them.

With regards to the workshop, he said that the aim is to bring people together and have a better understanding about the project.

Meanwhile, only 12 out of 35 packages of the Pan Borneo Highway phase 1 project are on the ground, while the remaining are still waiting for the government’s decision.

In fact, it was previously reported that all the 35 packages should be under construction by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

With that in mind, one wonders if the first phase of the project involving a total of 706 kilometres of the highway could be completed as scheduled before or by 30 Sept 2021.

Acting CEO of Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd, Muhammad Fadzil Abdul Hamid, when approached with the question during a break at the workshop, politely declined to comment.

However, earlier, when presenting the “Overview of the Pan Borneo Highway” at the workshop, he cited among others that the delay also stems from land acquisition issue challenges. He added that it was difficult to get people to move out of the land that has been earmarked for the development.

Also problematic is when the area earmarked for development is a graveyard, he said.

“Then we have to go through the tradition and customs,” he explained.

“We look at the grouses of the people on the ground.”

“With regards to this project, we look at the physical side and human side of the development. We try to make sure the livelihood of the people is not adversely affected,” he said.

Sabah Town and Regional Planning Department’s chief assistant director (physical planning division), Sharum Radzlee Samlih when giving his presentation on the overview of the Sabah Structural Plan 2033 said that among the dire challenges facing Sabah is poor connectivity.

“Connectivity in Sabah is a problem…penetration to the rural areas of Sabah is a problem,” he said.

He shared the Sabah Structural Plan 2033, which serves as a guideline for planners up until the year 2033, plans a modern and efficient road transport system which comprises at least a highway/ tunnel to connect the west and east of Sabah, to complement the Pan Borneo Highway and connect to the BIMP-EAGA region.

The other connectivity plan for Sabah during the period is the Sabah Railway Master Plan study which shall encompass west to east via Keningau, Tongod, Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau; Kota Kinabalu to Kudat; Beaufort to Sipitang; west to east via Keningau, Sook, Nabawan, Kalabakan, and Tawau (West-East second link); and Beaufort to Menumbok (future link).