KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Bung Moktar Radin said the Sabah Public Works Department (JKR) is projecting the entire 35 packages under phase 1 of the Pan Borneo Highway to be completed in 2040 if the government did not consider other funding initiatives for allocations.
Bung Moktar, who is also the state works minister, said based on the 2021 budget announcement by the finance ministry and current trends, it was found that only one package from the remaining 20 packages under phase 1 was approved for 2021.
“Through this projection, Sabah JKR estimates that only five to six packages would be implemented under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) and only 21 of the 35 packages would be completed up to 2028.
“At present, the implementation of LPB depends solely on budget’s development expenditure and the project is constructed by Sabah JKR.
“The provision of funds is different from the earlier LPB phase 1, which was implemented via a project delivery partner (PDP), in which the project cost and duration were fixed.
“However, this PDP concept was terminated on Sept 21 2019,” he told the state legislative assembly today when replying to a question from Salleh Said Keruak (BN-Usukan), who enquired about the latest status of the LPB project, especially in the Kota Belud area.
Bung Moktar said if the construction of LPB is dependent on allocations through direct expenditure, then its construction would take a very long time.
In this regard, he proposed that the federal government allow the Sabah government implement the LPB project on a private financial initiative (PFI).
“I am confident the LPB project could be expedited if we adopt PFI. I will hold discussions with several local companies early next year on the matter, “ he said.
The Sabah LPB project is being implemented in stages through three phases. The first phase involves constructing the 706km highway in 35 packages, at a cost of RM15.272 billion.