Kota Kinabalu: The termination of the Pan Borneo Highway Project Delivery Partner (PDP) model was a collective Federal Cabinet decision involving a federal agreement, says Parti Warisan Sabah deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking (pic).
Responding to remarks by Sabah DAP publicity secretary Thien Ee Hang, Darell said that acknowledging former Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s recommendation does not erase the separate collective responsibility of the Federal Cabinet that formally executed the termination.
"I have never denied that Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal recommended an end to the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) model, nor that the Sabah State Cabinet collectively supported that recommendation," he said in a statement on Monday.
However, Darell pointed out that a State Cabinet recommendation was distinct from the legal authority to terminate a federal agreement under the national-interest provision.
He noted that as a former member of the Federal Cabinet, he accepts collective responsibility for the decision alongside other former ministers, including then Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and then Works Minister Baru Bian.
Darell also clarified that ending the PDP model was not a cancellation of the Pan Borneo Highway, as the project continued under a conventional federal implementation model with the Works Ministry (KKR) taking over while retaining existing contractors and consultants.
Citing the official parliamentary record, he highlighted that the highway was already substantially behind schedule before termination, registering 21.3 per cent actual progress against a scheduled 44.4 per cent by September 2019.
He added that while Warisan answers for its term, subsequent delays cannot be blamed solely on the 2019 decision, calling on the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) administration and the current Federal Government to explain why the highway remains unfinished after six years.
