Sabah Pan Borneo project: Figures cited by AG report doesn't reflect actual progress - Sabah DCM

The 11.4 percent completion rate for the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project highlighted in the recent Auditor-General's Report does not reflect the actual physical progress on the ground, said Deputy Chief Minister Joachim Gunsalam.

The Sabah public works minister said the figure only measured the number of fully handed-over packages, which accounted for just four of the 35 packages under Phase 1 of the project.

"Although the 11.4 percent figure is correct in terms of handed-over packages, it does not reflect overall progress as other packages are actively being built, with some alignments recording between 90 and 93 percent physical progress," Joachim (above) told reporters on the sidelines of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah convention today.

READ MORE: 10 years, RM1b more: Audit lays bare Pan Borneo Sabah highway woes

He said construction works continued to show positive progress, with eight packages spanning 179 kilometres (km) proposed to be opened to motorists in stages before the end of 2026.

On the Variation Order (VO) issue, reported to have exceeded RM514 million, Joachim clarified that the approval for the additional cost falls under the jurisdiction of the federal Works Ministry and Finance Ministry, not the state government.

He said the Sabah Public Works Department (PWD) only acts as the technical implementing agency and has no authority to approve the VO.

According to Joachim, the VO was necessitated by actual technical factors, such as Sabah's unpredictable hilly topography, which involves slope stability issues, as well as swampy and peat soil structures that change every one to 1.5 km.

"The state government views the audit findings positively and has taken steps to address them, supported by the excellent cooperation between the state and federal governments," he said.

Shift to conventional method caused delays

Commenting on project delays, Joachim said the implementation of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway was affected by the termination of the previous Project Delivery Partner (PDP) model, which forced a shift to the conventional method, making the project reliant on annual federal allocation approvals.

In addition to the impact of the Cocid-19 pandemic in 2021, most contractor appointments for new packages could only be finalised between February 2024 and January 2026 after the federal government reconsidered the implementation method.

He added that delays also stemmed from a time-consuming land acquisition process.

He explained that the government did not take a draconian approach but instead allowed landowners to appeal for compensation, while also acknowledging challenges related to the performance of some contractors.

- Bernama

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