Fadillah Yusof
KUCHING (Dec 19): The Pan Borneo Highway project is expected to be 70 per cent completed by the end of 2021, said Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
He said initially the project was supposed to be completed with phase one in early 2022 or end of 2021, but after the previous government terminated the project delivery partner (PDP), it was delayed further.
“Without the PDP, the targeted progress of the Pan Borneo Highway project in the state was at 62 per cent this year, but the Covid-19 pandemic further delayed it, and at the moment the project’s progress is at about 51 per cent.
“My target is about 70 per cent (progress in 2021). Realistically, I expect the Pan Borneo Highway project to be completed with phase one in 2023… the first quarter,” he told reporters after officiating at a luncheon event with the media here today.
To achieve that target, Fadillah said his ministry is in the midst of appointing a project management consultant (PMC) which would greatly help lighten the burden of the Public Works Department (JKR) Sarawak.
He said the PMC will become a consultant to the government, that would help JKR Sarawak to monitor the Pan Borneo Highway project as well as for verification process for contractors involved in the project.
“That is why we need the PMC who can drive the project. That will help JKR Sarawak a lot in terms of monitoring, verifying and checking all work package contractors. Right now as you know JKR Sarawak in terms of volume of work both for the state and federal projects, I don’t think they will be able to cope with it.
“That’s why we need to appoint PMC so they will be working under JKR Sarawak and help in whatever ways they can,” he said.
Fadillah explained that the company appointed as the PMC would have to monitor the work package contractors doing work on the 12 packages in the Pan Borneo Highway project in the state.
“We have identified a company. The appointment hopefully will be in January next year, it is still yet to be finalised. We are now waiting for the Ministry of Finance to finalise it,” he said.
Fadillah also hoped that the Covid-19 pandemic would be under control soon, and more foreign workers would be able to come and work on the project to speed up the completion of the Pan Borneo Highway.
If not, he hoped that local workers would come in and fill in the labour gap to complement existing foreign workers that were already in the state.
But for now, he said the state immigration policy still closes its borders to outsiders particularly from the Philippines and Indonesia, except for certain groups of people.
“That’s why we encourage local people now to be involved in the construction industry. Secondly, foreign workers who are in Malaysia can still be absorbed to work in the construction industry provided they don’t have any criminal track record,” said Fadillah.
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