Explainer: Why is Sabah's Pan Borneo Highway lagging behind Sarawak's?

KOTA KINABALU: The toll-free Pan Borneo Highway was envisioned as a major transport link connecting Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. But more than a decade after its launch, progress in the two East Malaysian states has diverged sharply.

As of March 31, the Auditor General's Report 2/2026 found that Sarawak had completed 10 of its 11 work packages, with the remaining package, WP11, 99.9 per cent complete.

In Sabah, only four of the 35 work packages under Phase 1, which spans 706km, had been completed.

Of the remaining packages, nine were classified as sick projects, 13 were delayed and nine were ahead of schedule.

A total of RM10.547 billion of the RM11.153 billion allocated for Sabah's highway project had been spent, yet the project remains significantly behind schedule.

The completion deadline has since been extended to 2030 due to weaknesses in project planning.

Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin has warned that the project risks remaining incomplete due to a funding shortfall unless the government approves additional allocations.

WHY IS SARAWAK'S PORTION PROGRESSING WELL?

In 2024, former Sabah Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya said Sarawak had arranged sukuk financing early to ensure sufficient funds for all its Pan Borneo Highway packages.

According to DanaInfra Nasional Berhad's website, the infrastructure financing entity was mandated in July 2015 to raise funds to part-finance Phase 1 of the Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway, with financing of up to RM13 billion backed by a government guarantee.

The financing programme was expanded to RM15.8 billion in May 2023 to meet the remaining construction funding requirements.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi also credited Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology with saving RM157 million and averting a potential 10-year delay to the Sarawak project.

The MP for Kapit said the technology helped resolve more than 3,000 drawing errors during construction in 2016.

WHY IS SABAH'S PAN BORNEO HIGHWAY FACING DELAYS?

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Works Minister Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam said this year that the project had been affected by the termination of the previous project delivery partner (PDP) model in 2019.

The switch to the conventional implementation model left the project dependent on annual federal allocations.

Dr Gunsalam said most contractor appointments for the new packages were finalised only between February 2024 and January 2026, after the federal government reconsidered the implementation method.

Land acquisition has also held up construction, with the state government allowing landowners to appeal against compensation offers.

Shortages of bitumen, stone and manpower have also contributed to the delays.

Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Maslan previously told Parliament that other factors included contractor performance, weather conditions, utility relocation, the Covid-19 pandemic and weaknesses in project governance.