15 LoAs for Sabah Pan Borneo Highway phase 1B

KOTA KINABALU: A total of 15 letters of acceptance (LoAs) for contractors of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway phase 1B project are expected to be issued in the third quarter of this year, the Sabah state assembly was told yesterday.

Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, who is also the State Works Minister, said the government is committed to ensuring this project is implemented according to the initial plan, which involves appointing contractors for all remaining 19 work packages this year.

“Four contractors have been appointed and commenced construction since April this year. Meanwhile, 15 work packages for the Pan Borneo Highway phase 1B are currently in the final evaluation stage of the open pre-qualification tender. These packages have been assessed and submitted to the federal government.

“The procurement board of the federal Works Ministry met on July 3 this year and will subsequently submit the decisions to the Finance Ministry to finalise. The LoAs for the contractors are expected to be issued in the third quarter of this year,” he said.

He was replying to a question from nominated assemblyman Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee regarding the Sabah government’s plans to expedite the tender process for the Pan-Borneo project, as mentioned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on May 31 at the closing ceremony of the Sabah Kaamatan Festival.

Shahelmey said of the 35 total packages for the Pan Borneo Project phases 1A and 1B, four have been completed, 15 are under construction and 16 more are in the procurement stage.

He said the government has allocated RM26.3bil to complete the 35 work packages of Pan Borneo phase 1, with the total construction cost estimated at RM18.5bil.

To a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Senallang) on whether the contractor appointment process for the Pan Borneo Highway would be managed entirely through open tender, Shahelmey said the pre-qualification method implemented is based on an open tender.

“Advertisements were placed, allowing all contracting companies meeting the pre-qualification criteria in Malaysia to participate. It must be noted that 194 companies took part in the pre-qualification session, including companies from Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak,” he added. — BK