Fadillah suggests use of prequalified tender to expedite Pan Borneo Highway project

• Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof: “This is because if we do it through an open tender, it will take a long time, especially if there are too many applications. So, I recommend a prequalified tender, which means that the tender will be opened with conditions.”

KUCHING (Sept 17): Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof on Sunday suggested that the Ministry of Finance and the Work Ministry use the prequalified tender procurement method in the selection of contractors for the Pan Borneo Highway project.

He said the use of the method would ensure the reliability of contractors appointed and, thus would not affect the highway construction process.

“This is because if we do it through an open tender, it will take a long time, especially if there are too many applications. So, I recommend a prequalified tender, which means that the tender will be opened with conditions.

“Contractors who meet the criteria will be identified and those who qualify will be called to enter the actual tender," he told reporters when met at the state-level Cost of Living Carnival at Dewan Hikmah here.

Fadillah, who is  the coordinator for the Pan Borneo Highway project, said he was making the suggestion to expedite the construction of the highway, which involves a total distance of 1,492 kilometres

Fadillah said this in response to the task given to him by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to expedite the construction of the Pan Borneo project.

The prime minister, in his speech in conjunction with Malaysia Day 2023 on Saturday (Sept 16), vowed to fulfil the promises and agreements made during the formation of Malaysia, including the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), and had tasked Fadillah to expedite and resolve issues surrounding the Pan Borneo Highway project.

Anwar said this was to ensure  that the construction of the highway could be completed earlier than the previously set deadline.

The media reported Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi as saying on Aug 20 that construction of Phase 1 of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project, which involves 15 work packages, is now 82% complete and is scheduled to be fully completed in January 2025.

Phase 1 of the Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway project involves 11 work packages, and is almost 98% complete.

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