The Pan Borneo Highway, which is expected to be completed by 2023, will traverse 2,325 km across Sarawak and Sabah. Three times longer as compared to Malaysia’s 772 km North-South Expressway, the highway will involve the construction of bridges, lay-bys, pedestrian bridges and interchanges. The total cost of the project is about RM 29 billion, with the federal government funding the entire amount. The toll-free, four-lane, dual carriageway of JKR R5 standard, the Pan Borneo Highway is expected to bring economic opportunities to the regions that it passes through. It will be a massive improvement over the present trunk road, which is a two-lane single carriageway. The Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak has also created a milestone in terms of the technology that is being used to implement the project. The technology deployed has the potential to tide over a large share of the problems currently faced in the implementation of such projects.

Project genesis

As far back as the 1960s, a trunk road was planned to connect Sarawak and Sabah with Brunei in between; it was then known as the Trans-Borneo Highway. The Pan Borneo Highway, which takes the idea of improving road connectivity across Sabah and Sarawak further, was conceptualised by the federal and state governments of Malaysia, Brunei, and Kalimantan, Indonesia, to run along the coastline of Borneo. In April 2013, Malaysia’s prime minister announced an initiative towards full-scale development and upgradation of the Pan Borneo Highway to step up socio-economic growth in Sarawak and Sabah. Construction works on the Sarawak portion in Bintulu began following the official launch of the project on March 31, 2015. Subsequently, the Sabah portion was launched in 2016. A recent update in relation to the route of the Pan Borneo Highway indicates a slight change in the route alignment of the highway. As against the earlier decision, the highway will now not cut across Brunei.

Mode of implementation

This project has been implemented under the project delivery partner (PDP) model. Under this model, the risk and responsibility associated with the timely completion of the project within the cost specified lies with a private sector entity in return for a percentage of the project cost as commission. In Malaysia, MRT Line 2, LRT 3 and the Pan Borneo Highway are a few projects that have been taken up under the PDP model.

For the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak, the Malaysian government and Sarawak state government appointed Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd as the PDP for developing and upgrading Phase I over a period of eight years. For the Sabah portion, Borneo Highway PDP has been appointed as the PDP. The Warisan Tarang Construction Sdn Bhd has a 60 per cent stake in the Borneo Highway PDP with the remaining being held by a joint venture (JV) between the UEM Group and MMC Corp Bhd.

Sarawak segment

In March 2015, a 42.96 km long kick-off project was launched. The contract for the project was awarded to Pekerjaan Piasau Konkerit Sdn Bhd (civil engineering arm of the Shin Yang group) and the scope of works under this project included the construction of 4 bridges, 26 bus shelters and 2 pedestrian bridges.

Phase I of highway development has been divided into 11 work packages covering a total of 786 km from Telok Melano to Miri, averaging 60-90 km each. Tenders were invited from all the contractors and wherever contractors required additional support from experienced highway builders, JVs were formed with Peninsular Malaysia entities with the Sarawak entity retaining 70 per cent equity. These 11 work packages were launched during the period September 2015-December 2016 and were awarded to 20 companies including 11 public-listed companies.

Expected to be completed by 2021, Phase I of the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak has moved more than one-third into its construction period. Site clearance has been completed and the 11 work packages have now moved on to the next construction stage, which includes earth, drainage, geotechnical and bridge works.

Although the estimated total cost for it was RM 16.49 billion, it is expected to be cut by RM 660 million as of October 2018 on account of recent cost optimisation measures. Hence, the revised cost will be around RM 15.83 billion.

For the Sarawak side of the Pan Borneo Highway, Project Information Management System (PIMS), which incorporates 74 business processes, is being deployed to enhance project delivery, increase efficiency by decreasing time, cost and risk, and generate a common data environment for the application of building information modelling (BIM) and improved asset life-cycle management. highway information modelling (HIM) has also been applied in the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak. HIM is a combination of BIM and geographical information system (GIS) that converts traditional two-dimensional (2D) engineering design drawings to three-dimensional (3D) models. Due to the presence of 3D models and data from drones flying over the alignment, on-site project managers now have access to superior tools that help them identify impediments such as underlying utility cables, road alignment or engineering incongruities during construction. Amendments in designs, estimates of quantity and work sequence can be incorporated in the 3D models after discussion with contractors and consultants to pre-empt the possibility of such problems arising during construction and changes made to the works programme. Apart from digitising construction information in a single database that is accessible to various parties, it provides precise information during the construction process, ensuring that no problems arise from inaccuracies in data.

Sabah portion

With an estimated total project cost of RM 12.86 billion in Sabah, this portion has been divided into 35 work packages of which 12 packages are under implementation while the remaining 23 packages are at various stages like procurement, design and planning. The completion rate for the 12 awarded packages lies somewhere between 1 per cent and 36 per cent.

The road ahead

At present, with Phase I nearing completion, a technical study is under way for Phase II of the project. For this study, the Ministry of Finance, along with the Sarawak and Sabah state governments, has been roped in.

The Pan Borneo highway is expected to accelerate Malaysia’s economic development by boosting tourism and allied sectors, creating new towns along the highway route, generating employment via direct and indirect linkages, increasing access to previously isolated areas and transforming the economic landscape.