BINTULU (June 15): The Ministry of Finance is finalising negotiations for a company to carry out maintenance works on the Pan Borneo Highway, said Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
Nanta said the Finance Ministry has granted approval for maintenance works to be carried out by the company for a period of three years beginning with the delivery of completed packages in stages.
“The appointment of this company is subject to several conditions that have been set by the Ministry of Finance.
“The ministry is in the procurement process to finalise the project scope and cost. Negotiations will continue and are expected to be successfully completed at the end of this year,” he said during Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Tanjong Manis MP Yusof Abdul Wahab, who wanted to know the latest status of the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sarawak and its maintenance after completion.
Nanta said to ensure the continuity of government service delivery, currently the completed packages would be maintained by the existing federal road maintenance concessionaire.
“This is to ensure the safety and comfort of road users is guaranteed until the new contract is signed,” he said.
He pointed out that work progress for the remaining 10 work packages of the Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway project from Sematan to Miri was 94 per cent complete as of April.
“Almost the entire alignment will be ready on November 2023 except for some sections in Miri that need to be redesigned and can only be completed in 2025,” he said.
He added Phase 1 of the Pan Borneo Highway project from Telok Melano to Sematan package was fully completed in January 2019.