Works Ministry refutes Tiong's accusation on payment to Pan Borneo contractors

KUCHING: The Works Ministry demands Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing Tiong furnish evidence to support his accusation that Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak's Work Package Contractors (WPCs) were paid despite them failing to carry out their work or retracts his statement with an apology.

See Chee How the Special Officer to the Works Minister in statement yesterday expressed extreme disappointment with the malicious accusation by Tiong King Sing as it impugned the reputation of the WPCs.

"The Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak is still under the purview of Lebuhraya Borneo Utara (LBU), not the Works Ministry or its minister Baru Bian, as alleged by Tiong. Road repair works are executed by the WPCs appointed for the respective sections and packages according to their terms of contract by LBU," See said.

Although the Works Ministry under the Federal Government has issued termination notice to LBU for its services as Project Delivery Partner (PDP) on Sept 20, 2019 it will only take effect on February 20 this year.

The Federal Government will cut down the cost of the project with the termination as LBU receives 5.5 per cent in commission to oversee project execution by the WPCs because it is paid by the Federal Government to oversee the Pan Borneo Highway until Feb 20 this year.

"The Works Ministry has consistently issued warnings to LBU on the matter of WPCs fulfilling their contractual responsibility for the safety of the people.

Additionally, the Works Minister has personally done spot-checks on several sites of the Pan Borneo Highway and has given stern warnings to LBU for errant contractors to repair bad road conditions," said See.