Sabah Pan Borneo: how did a 2021 completion target become 2030?

Phase 1 is planned as a 706 km, 35-package highway programme.

The Works Ministry later told Parliament that the preliminary 2015 construction estimate was RM12.86 billion. The Auditor-General says the project was planned from 2015.

The original 69-month construction window begins.

The Auditor-General records an original construction-and-completion period running from 11 April 2016 to 31 December 2021.

Project management moves from the PDP model to the Works Ministry.

The government terminated the Project Delivery Partner model and continued Phase 1 using a conventional federal contracting approach, with the Works Ministry taking over implementation.

The Works Ministry later said the model change followed a 2019 government decision. This is a delivery-model change, not by itself proof that one party caused all subsequent delays.

An earlier audit shows the project was already well behind plan at the PDP handover.

The Auditor-General's 2019 Series 1 report said physical progress across 11 work packages was 12.8% at PDP termination versus 41.9% planned—a 29.1 percentage-point gap.

Two packages are complete; the remaining active packages are targeted for end-2024.

Sabah's Works Minister said progress across 15 active Phase 1 packages had reached 79.06%, with two packages completed and the rest then targeted for completion by the end of 2024.

Package counts and phase groupings changed as the programme was restructured, so PulseKita keeps each progress figure tied to the reporting basis used at that time.

The programme is split into Phase 1A and 1B with later completion targets.

The Sabah government said Phase 1A was expected in October 2026 and Phase 1B in September 2028, across the full 35-package, 706 km Phase 1 programme.

Four Phase 1A packages are complete; Phase 1B is still at an early stage.

Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said four of 16 Phase 1A packages were complete, Phase 1A progress was 81.7%, and all 19 Phase 1B packages were under implementation at 3.06% progress.

The government publishes a package-by-package path stretching to 2030.

Deputy Works Minister Ahmad Maslan said nine more packages were expected to complete in 2026, four in 2027, 12 in 2028, three in 2029 and the final three by 2030.

Parliament hears that the current Phase 1 allocation is RM24.889 billion.

The Works Ministry contrasted the current RM24.889 billion total for Phase 1A and 1B with the preliminary RM12.86 billion estimate from 2015.

The ministry stressed that the 2015 figure was a preliminary construction estimate under the original PDP model, so PulseKita does not present the difference as a simple cost overrun calculation.

The overall completion target moves to Q4 2030.

The Works Ministry told the Dewan Negara that the remaining Phase 1A and 1B alignment was targeted for full completion in the fourth quarter of 2030.

The Auditor-General puts the decade-long delivery problems under a fresh spotlight.

Using a 31 March 2026 snapshot, LKAN 2/2026 says only four of 35 work packages were complete; of 31 still under implementation, nine were classified as sick projects, 13 were behind schedule and nine were ahead.

The audit also identified RM513.99 million in variation orders approved beyond authorised limits, plus planning, utility-relocation, monitoring and contract-governance weaknesses.