GRS MPs to submit memorandum to PAC, seek expanded Pan Borneo probe

Papar MP Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said seven Gabungan Rakyat Sabah Members of Parliament will submit a memorandum to the Public Accounts Committee next week seeking an expanded scope of investigation into the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

First Published: Sunday, 15 Nov 2026 7:52 PM MYT

PAPAR, Nov 15 — Seven Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Members of Parliament will submit a memorandum to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) next week seeking an expanded scope of investigation into the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project, including an examination of the basis and implications of the decision to terminate the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) model in 2019.

Papar MP Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali. their spokesman, said the move was important to ensure that the PAC investigation not only focused on the project’s current status and performance, but also examined previous policy decisions allegedly affecting its implementation schedule, contractor appointments and rising construction costs.

Armizan, who is also GRS secretary-general, welcomed the PAC’s decision on October 19 to investigate the management, financial governance and physical implementation of the project following the tabling of the Auditor-General’s Report (AG’s Report) Series 2/2026.

However, he said the scope of the investigation should cover four key factors relating to the termination of the PDP model on September 22, 2019, to comprehensively identify the actual causes of the project’s delays.

“That is our recommendation to the PAC, that the scope of the investigation be expanded to cover the basis and implications of the termination of the PDP model,” he told reporters after officiating at the closing ceremony of the IP SPARK 2026 programme here today.

Elaborating, Armizan said the first factor was the lack of clarity regarding the implications of the PDP termination in the AG’s Report Series 2/2026, although official responses by the Works Ministry in the Dewan Rakyat on August 2, 2022 and October 19, 2026 had cited the termination of the model as one of the causes of project delays.

“So this is not political talk or political issues determined by people, but an official response in the Dewan Rakyat,” said Armizan, who is also Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister.

The second factor, he said, was the need to obtain clarification on the basis of the Federal Government’s decision to terminate the PDP model in 2019 following a recommendation by the Sabah state administration at the time, including whether a comprehensive study had been conducted before the decision was made.

On the third factor, he said uncertainty over the status of the PDP and contractor appointments following the change of government in May 2018 had allegedly caused construction work on the ground to stall for more than a year before existing contractors were reappointed under the conventional implementation method in 2019.

The disruption was also alleged to have contributed to higher project costs, particularly as contractors faced increases in construction material prices due to inflation, as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the fourth factor involved the process of reappointing existing contractors and appointing new ones, which was disrupted following the transition from the PDP model to the conventional method, resulting in some Phase 1A packages only undergoing the appointment process in 2021.

“So we hope that not only government agencies but also the contractors will be called to these proceedings to hear about the pressures and issues they faced,” he said.

He stressed that the GRS memorandum was not intended to find fault with any party, but to ensure that policy decisions concerning public infrastructure projects were not influenced by partisan political considerations to the detriment of their smooth implementation. — Bernama