KUCHING: The RM16 billion Pan Borneo Highway project in Sarawak will be continued, state Democratic Action Party (DAP) Chairman Chong Chieng Jen pointed out.
However, Chong who is also the newly elected Stampin Member of Parliament (MP) said an audit process would be carried out to review the cost of construction.
“The project will continue, as well as other projects in Sarawak, the audit process is part of the procedure that will be carried out. Besides that, we will re-examine the contractors who have been appointed in order to avoid delays in completing projects,” he said at a press conference at the DAP Headquarters here yesterday.
Chong added like the Pan Borneo project, auditing would also be done on the federal-funded projects in Sarawak.
He noted that the purpose and intend of auditing was to ensure that every single sen that is spent by the federal government would go to the projects and benefits the people, and not half of it goes to the pockets of the cronies and the other half goes to the project.
Ask if he would be part of the auditing group, he said he was not a qualified auditor.
“The auditing will be done by qualified professionals appointed by PH government. The details would be worked out later. For now, we just want to reassure Sarawakians that all the federal-funded projects in the state will continue,” said Chong adding the PH government would also expedite the implementation of the Pan Borneo projects.
He said the project was going a bit slow because payments for contractors doing the actual works were delayed.
“The delay was a result of layers and layers of sub-contractor involved in the projects. This makes it difficult to carry out the project,” he said.
Also present were Bandar Kuching MP Kevin Yii Lee Wuen and Pending assemblywomen Violet Wong.
