Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya

KOTA KINABALU (May 16): Work on a total of 15 packages in Phase 1 of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project is scheduled for completion by the end of next year, said Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.

He said the overall work progress of the 15 packages has achieved 79.06%, with two of the packages already completed, namely Package 5 involving the upgrading of the road from Donggonggon to Jalan Papar Spur, which was opened in November last year.

He said the other one is Package 27, involving the road from Kampung Lot M to Sandakan Batu 32, which was opened in August last year.

Shahelmey, who is also Works Minister, said two other packages, namely Package 15 involving Jalan Tawau-Semporna and Package 21 involving Jalan Lahad Datu Bypass, are expected to be opened in the middle of this year.

"We hope to get the other 11 packages completed before the end of 2024," he told a press conference after attending the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway Project Ramah Mesra Media dan Aidilfitri programme here on Tuesday (May 16).

According to Shahelmey, there are a total of 35 packages in Phase 1 of the expressway project, with work on the remaining 20 packages expected to start before the end of this year.

He said implementation of the 20 packages, which is now in the pre-tendering stage, would be in the East Coast area.

The Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project, stretching 706km starting from the border of Sabah and Sarawak in Sindumin up to Tawau, started in July 2016.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when tabling Budget 2023 on Feb 24, announced an allocation of RM20 billion to speed up the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project and also the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road project, stretching more than 1,000km.

Meanwhile, Shahelmey refuted the claim that the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway was the main cause of flash floods, saying all road planning and design had taken into account various aspects, including the drainage system.

"The occurrence of flash floods is likely to be caused by poor maintenance of the drains and higher than usual rainfall,” he said.