Baru (seated) showing a document detailing the cost of the PBH project
KUCHING: Works Minister Baru Bian today announced that the completion date of the Sarawak portion of the Pan Borneo Highway (PBH) has now been fixed for June 2022 – about a year after the project’s original target.
He said the new deadline takes into account the termination of its project delivery partner (PDP) model and the takeover of the project by his ministry in collaboration with the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR) as the ‘Superintending Officer’.
“The original completion date is June 30 2021 under the PDP. But after we have had an engagement with the Work Package Contractors (WPCs), the completion date varies from May to August 2022.
“Let us take the date in the middle and that is June 2022,” he told reporters after handing over the ‘Superintending Officer’ appointment letter to the state JKR.
He pointed out that the project was already off-schedule before the ministry took over.
“These facts must be put on the table for all to know. We don’t want to be accused after this that the project had been delayed after we took over,” he stressed.
Baru also said there was a discrepancy in the progress of the project due to conflicting figures given by Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd (LBU), which was the PDP until it was terminated today, and the findings of the state JKR and an independent consulting engineering firm on the work programme.
As such, he said the State JKR would be making a thorough study on the contractors work programme from February to April 2020.
There are 11 Work Packages for the 786.41 KM-long project which commenced in October 2015.
Baru said the Federal government had decided to end the contract agreement of LBU with the aim at lowering the national financial implication and to resort to using the expertise available for the project.
He said the ministry would now be using the conventional module to complete the project with the state JKR as the Superintending Officer.
He explained that Sarawak JKR would be responsible to regulate and monitor the implementation of the project and administer contracts, while JKR Malaysia will function as independent consulting engineer to provide advisory services to his ministry and the state department to ensure compliance of technical specifications and periodical auditing.