KUALA LUMPUR: The Pan Borneo Highway project in Sarawak remains on track and is expected to be completed according to the set schedule.
Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi stated that the remaining works for the project only involve the highway design, which is related to land issues.
"It is expected to be completed soon. There are only certain matters that need to be addressed.
"These include the code design of the highway, which involves land issues, and this is why we have not reached 100 per cent completion," he said during the ministry's monthly assembly press conference today.
Also present were his deputy, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, and the ministry's secretary-general, Hasnol Zamzam Ahmad.
In October last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the 2024 Budget tabling announced that the Pan Borneo Highway Project (LBP) is expected to be fully completed this year. The project in Sarawak currently has 98.91 per cent completion.
The project in Sarawak currently stands at 98.91 per cent completion.
Regarding the project in Sabah, Nanta said it is 87 per cent completed, with the ongoing phase 1A.
He also said the government will initiate an open tender for contractors to apply under Phase 1B to manage the project.
"The contractors will need to go through pre-qualification assessments first as there will be no direct appointment of contractors for the project in Sabah.
"Hence, we will initiate the open tender among the companies that have passed the assessment. The assessment process is currently ongoing."
Anwar in December had said the federal government was seriously viewing the delay in implementing the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sabah, which lags behind Sarawak.
He noted that the implementation of the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sabah, with a cost exceeding RM16 billion, is delayed.
Overall, the project in Sabah consists of 35 work packages in Phase One, with 16 of them in Phase 1A already underway, while the remaining 19 packages in Phase 1B have not started.
The total length of all work packages is estimated to be 706 kilometres.
