KUCHING, Nov 6: Ten contractors involved in the Pan Borneo Highway project are claiming they have not been paid for the last three months.
Works Minister Baru Bian said the payment issue had caused a slight delay in progress of the mega project.
Payment should have been sorted out by Lebuhraya Borneo Utara (LBU), the project delivery partner (PDP), he added.
“The 10 contractors came to me and raised the issue. They have not received their payments, ranging between RM50 to RM70 million each for July, August and September. Because of that, it is difficult for them to proceed with the work,” Baru told reporters here today.
However, he assured that the work progress was ongoing, although a bit slow.
“The amount is huge and I sympathise with them. If they haven’t been paid on time, how would the contractors proceed? I hope LBU will take this issue seriously,” he said.
Currently, the whole Pan Borneo Highway project is under LBU and the Works Ministry will take over the project on Feb 19 next year. LBU has been axed as the PDP on Oct 1 and were given five months to hand over the project to the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR).
“Let me assure you that when the Works Ministry takes over the project next year, all the payments to contractors will be made within 30 to 60 days,” he said. — DayakDaily
