Govt disbursed over RM9 bil to date for Pan Borneo Sabah Phase 1A — works minister

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 10): The government has disbursed RM9.2 billion for Phase 1A of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah, covering 16 work packages and fully funded through the development budget.

Phase 1A, which involves a 318km stretch, has achieved 86.98% physical progress, with four packages already completed and benefitting road users, Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said when wrapping up the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address in Dewan Rakyat on Monday.

The total costs for Phase 1A, nevertheless, remain provisional as construction is still ongoing and subject to variation orders, or VOs, Alexander said.

"Thus far, we have received 78 VOs, each assessed and approved by consultants, site representatives, and the Sabah Joint Committee based on justified development needs," he said.

Phase 1B, which began in 2024, is currently 13.68% complete, Alexander said.

The Pan Borneo project is a massive infrastructure costing over RM20 billion, connecting Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei. Construction of the expressway, aimed at boosting economic growth in East Malaysia, first began in 2015.

In Sarawak, all work packages for the highway were reported 99.98% complete as of December 2025, with full completion expected in 2026. In Sabah, however, the progress has lagged behind expectations and has resulted in increased scrutiny.

Alexander said the delay in Sabah is partly due to the larger number of packages. The 706km Sabah stretch is divided into 35 work packages, compared with 786km in Sarawak, which has only 11 packages.

"This makes procurement, coordination between contractors, government agencies, and consultants, and overall project management more complex," he noted.

The government is closely monitoring the progress and is committed to completing both phases by the fourth quarter of 2028.

East Coast Expressway 3

The Works Ministry has submitted a statement of need to the Public Private Partnership Unit, a division better known as UKAS, for the preparation of the request for proposal for the proposed RM9.8 billion East Coast Expressway 3 project, Alexander said.

The request will later be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration, with UKAS aiming to finalise the documents within this year, he said.

The Cabinet has decided that the 122km highway extension from Gemuroh, Terengganu to Tunjong, Kelantan will be implemented through a public-private partnership with competitive bidding, Alexander noted. "The project will incur no cost to the government," he added.

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