Govt to bear RM2.8b cost of Pan Borneo Highway land acquisition

KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): The federal government will bear the land acquisition cost totalling RM2.8 billion to construct the 2,239km Pan Borneo Highway connecting Sabah and Sarawak.

Deputy Works Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin (pictured) said this cost included the cost of resolving caveat or objections in acquiring the land.

“The cost to reclaim the land including the cost to resolve problems on the land for the total stretch of the Pan Borneo Highway Sabah is estimated at RM2 billion, while [the cost] for Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak is RM800 million.

“These costs will be fully borne by the government,” she told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

She was responding to Sarikei member of parliament Wong Ling Biu, who asked the government to state the compensation rates for crops and land that are affected by the highway project and the basis of assessment made for the land involved.

She said the land acquisition process and compensation rates to the landowners would be carried out by the Sabah and Sarawak state governments through their land agencies.

The land acquisition including compensation value is made based on the provisions in the existing land legislation, namely Sabah Land Ordinance 1930 and Sarawak Land Code 1958.

“The landowners, who have the ownership documents, will receive compensation based on the assessment of the current real estate market prices.

“For the residents with land ownership based on the native customary rights, the land compensation value, including the cost of building structures and plantations, will also be made based on the current value determined by the state land department,” Rosnah said.

She said the state governments had agreed to consider ex gratia payment for the squatters and their plantations on government-owned land.

It was reported that the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah will cost RM13 billion and in Sarawak, RM16 billion. The whole project is expected to be completed by 2025.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 27, 2016. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.