KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 20): The Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR Sarawak) will monitor the state's portion of Pan Borneo Highway (PBH) project.
The Works Ministry has officially appointed JKR Sarawak as the superintending officer and superintending officer representative for the state’s portion of the PBH project, responsible for monitoring and supervising the implementation of the project as well as managing the administration of contracts.
Works Minister Baru Bian handed over the letter of appointment to JKR Sarawak today, as well as presented the way forward for the Pan Borneo Highway under new management at a press conference in Kuching, Sarawak.
Under the new arrangement, the Federal Public Works Department (JKR Malaysia) will be the independent consulting engineer providing consultancy to the ministry and JKR Sarawak to ensure the project’s compliance with technical specifications and periodic auditing.
In May 2019, the Federal Government decided that the Works Ministry will take over the project under a conventional model project arrangement. Following that, the notice of termination of the project delivery partner (PDP) contract for the Sarawak portion of PBH was delivered to Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd (LBU) on Sept 20, 2019 and comes into effect today.
Linked to Sarawakian tycoon Tan Sri Bustari Yusof, LBU was awarded the contract for phase 1 of the Sarawak PBH project worth RM16.49 billion in 2015. Bustari is the brother of former works minister Datuk Fadillah Yusoff.
Baru updated that the government is expected to save RM2.865 billion from the initial RM21.857 billion under the PDP contract, bringing it to RM18.992 billion under the conventional model. However, the final amount saved will only be realised after a full evaluation is carried out in the future, he added.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Feb 6 said the Federal Government would save some RM3.1 billion or 14% of the total cost of the Sarawak PBH project under a new project funding agreement.
He said the lower cost was due to the removal of a 5.5% service fee imposed by LBU in the previous agreement.
The Federal Government terminated the PDP contract as it aims to reduce the country’s financial implications and utilise its existing expertise. Besides that, Baru said it is also an improvement to the project in terms of its implementation structure by maintaining only the necessary consultancy contract services without compromising the scope, safety and sustainability of the project.
“In addition, the Traffic Management Plan and maintenance during construction will be improved through direct and ongoing monitoring by the ministry and JKR Sarawak,” he said today.
According to a previous report by the PDP in January 2020, the progress of the project is 44.21% compared to 47.82% as scheduled for completion of the project on Aug 30, 2021, which is a two-month delay of the completion date under the PDP agreement.
However, based on a review by Sarawak JKR in January 2020, Baru said the actual progress of the project was 45.81% compared to 61.23% of the supposed completion.
Baru added that further engagement with the work package contractors has revealed that the project is expected to be completed by June 2022.
“Accordingly, during this three-month transition period (February-April 2020), JKR Sarawak will be reviewing the contractors' work program,” he said.
For the Sarawak portion of the project, 11 work packages are implemented over a span of 786.41km. The project commenced in October 2015 and was initially expected to be completed by June 30, 2021. So far, one work package contract — the WPC01, from Teluk Melano to Semantan covering 33km — has been completed as at Jan 6, 2019.