KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 300 companies have applied for tender for Phase 1B of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project, the Dewan Rakyat heard today.
Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the pre-qualification tender application had just closed, and it would take about a month for the applications to be shortlisted before it is brought to the tender board.
"It will take some time for us to shortlist. The tender for Phase 1B is not just for Sabahans, but open for all contractors in Malaysia, but not international companies.
"We want to ensure that they (contractors) fulfill three conditions namely, how much work they have on their hands; the company's experience; and financial stability," he said.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Semporna) on the government's action towards contractors who fail to complete the Pan Borneo Highway project within the stipulated time.
Ahmad (Barisan Nasional-Pontian) assured that the government would take strict action, including ending the contract of the companies who failed to meet the deadline.
He added that Package 1A of the project, involving 15 working packages, was 88 per cent completed.
All of the contractors for Package 1A, said Ahmad, were Sabahan companies.
