KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he has asked for greater flexibility from Sabah over requirements to appoint local contractors for major infrastructure projects.
Such conditions can complicate delivery, Anwar said during the prime minister’s question time on Tuesday, noting that he has spoken to the chief minister to allow transparent, open tenders to pick contractors, while retaining opportunities for local firms through smaller subcontracts.
Anwar urged Sabah members of Parliament not to pressure the government to favour contractors based on where they were located.
“I ask for the cooperation of colleagues from Sabah: do not question, for example, why it is not this company, why it is not a company from this district, or why it is not a company from the state. This makes things difficult for us,” he said.
Anwar was responding to concerns raised by a few Sabah lawmakers, including Beluran MP Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee and Semporna MP Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, over infrastructure delivery like the Pan Borneo Highway and safeguards following two failed pipeline projects.
A bipartisan parliamentary committee will investigate Sabah’s side of the long-delayed Pan Borneo Highway project highlighted in the latest Auditor General’s Report. Authorities, meanwhile, are investigating the scrapped Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline and Multi-Product Pipeline projects.
Conditions imposed on newer projects over the past one to two years had become stricter, Anwar noted, with major infrastructure works being required to comply with national requirements without interference.
“We must comply with national requirements, and there will be no more compromise over other interference,” he said. On the delayed Sabah Pan Borneo Highway, Anwar acknowledged that terrain and slope conditions presented challenges, but said contractor selection also needed attention.
He contrasted Sabah’s performance with Sarawak’s, which he praised for stronger project delivery.
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