THE State Government has assured Sabahans that the Pan Borneo Highway project will be implemented by local contractors.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said that the state government would not want a repeat of what had happened in the past where non-Sabahans were awarded federal projects in the state.
“The Klias assemblyman is aware that this has happened in the past under previous Prime Ministers. So for the Pan Borneo project we have asked to be given priority, especially in the aspect of contractors appointed to implement the parts in Sabah,” Musa said when replying to Klias assemblyman Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin yesterday.
To Lajim’s further question on why the allocation for the project in Sabah would be disbursed through the PDP (Private Delivery Partner) method in Sabah and unlike what was being done in Sarawak, Musa said that was the arrangement agreed on by the state and federal governments.
“The allocation is there and as announced by the Prime Minister when tabling the national 2016 budget, Sabah and Sarawak are given allocations to implement the portion of the Pan Borneo highway project that are in the two states.
“However for Sabah, like what the Deputy Chief Minister (Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan) said just now, we would be using the PDP method. The best thing is that the PDP will be fully handled by Sabahans where the State Secretary will act as the chairman of the Tender Board,” Musa stressed.
Earlier Pairin, who is also Infrastructure Development Minister when replying to Lajim’s initial question, disclosed that the Federal Government had, during the Economic Council meeting, assured that the Pan Borneo highway project would be offered fully to qualified and capable Sabahan contractors.
He added that the federal government had also agreed that it would be an open tender system for the project as what was being done in Sarawak.
“The federal government also agreed that the implementation of the project will be through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) where a PDP entity or consortium will be appointed by the government to plan, design, procure and monitor the project.
“The PDP is a special delivery vehicle that can assist the government to expedite the Pan Borneo highway project within the time frame and budget set by the government. Through this method, all risks in implementing and completing the project will be borne by the PDP,” Pairin said.
According to him, based on the PDP method an open tender system would be implemented and qualified Sabahan contractors would be invited to take part in the tender, and added that the project was expected to start in March 2016 as soon as the detailed design plan for the three packages were completed at the end of this year.
The three packages involved the Donggongon Papar Spur (Package 3-11.7km), Tawau-Semporna road from km 45 to km 49.7) and the Lahad Datu Bypass (7.1km).
Pairin also said that so far no contractors had been offered to implement the first phase of the Pan Borneo highway which would see the construction of a 706km road in Sabah from Sindumin to Tawau.
It is expected to cost about RM16.1 billion.