KOTA KINABALU (July 9): A total of 15 letters of acceptance (LOAs) for contractors of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway Phase 1B project are expected to be issued in the third quarter of this year, the Sabah state assembly was told on Tuesday.

Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, who is also the state works minister, said the government is committed to ensuring that this project is implemented according to the initial plan, which involves appointing contractors for all remaining 19 work packages this year.

“Four contractors have been appointed and commenced construction since April this year. Meanwhile, 15 work packages for the Pan Borneo Highway Phase 1B are currently in the final evaluation stage of the open pre-qualification tender. These packages have been assessed and submitted to the federal government.

“The procurement board of the (federal) Works Ministry met on July 3 this year and will subsequently submit the decisions to the Finance Ministry to finalise. The LOAs for the contractors are expected to be issued in the third quarter of this year,” he said.

He was replying to a question from nominated assemblyman Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee regarding the Sabah government’s actions to expedite the tender process for the Pan-Borneo project, as mentioned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on May 31 at the closing ceremony of the Sabah Kaamatan Festival.

Of the 35 total packages for the Pan Borneo project’s Phases 1A and 1B, four have been completed, 15 are under construction, and 16 more are in the procurement stage, Shahelmey said.

He said the government has allocated RM26.3 billion to complete the 35 work packages of Pan Borneo Phase 1, with the total construction cost estimated at RM18.5 billion.

To a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Senallang) on whether the contractor appointment process for the Pan Borneo Highway will be managed entirely through open tender, Shahelmey said the implemented pre-qualification method was based on an open tender.

“Advertisements were placed, allowing all contracting companies meeting the pre-qualification criteria in Malaysia to participate. It must be noted that 194 companies took part in the pre-qualification session, including companies from Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak.

“Of the 194 companies that participated in the open pre-qualification (session), 113 qualified to tender. The pre-qualification was divided into two stages to assess specific criteria, such as financial capability, technical ability and human resource capacity,” he added.

He said of the 113 companies, 59 were from Sabah, seven from Sarawak and 47 from Peninsular Malaysia.

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