Kota Kinabalu: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Ir. Shahelmey Yahya proposed that the ongoing Pan Borneo Highway (Phase 1) project should forgo another round of value assessment.
The Sabah Public Works Minister said the process was already carried out in 2017 and 2018, thus it would save up to five months of design work.
Debating the year’s budget in Parliament on Monday, he said the RM20 billion allocations for the Sabah and Sarawak highway was well received by the State.
“It is our hope that the remaining 20 out of 35 packages in Phase 1 of the project will be completed as soon as possible.
“We hope that it can be channelled this year to enable faster implementation and the involvement of reputable and capable Sabah contractors,” he said.
Shahelmey also requested that additional allocations be considered for Sabah for the maintenance of pothole ridden federal roads especially those connecting Tamparuli-Ranau and Kianabatangan-Lahad Datu.
Meanwhile, he urged the Federal Government to prioritise upgrading 287 dilapidated clinics in Sabah and another 39 which are in “uncomfortable conditions”.
The Putatan MP requested the Health Ministry to look into the proposal of an additional Health Clinic in his constituency which he said had become overcrowded.
He made it a point that upgrading works on dilapidated schools in Sabah have not been according to the Economic Planning Unit guidelines.
“This causes schools in dire need pf upgrades to go unlisted. I also request that work on 23 boarding schools in Sabah be expedited.
“The lecture halls and residential colleges of the Gaya Campus Institute of Education where the situation is quite urgent,” he said, adding SK Contoh in Petagas also needs rewiring.
On poverty, he said a larger percentage of allocation distributions from relevant ministries should be injected into rural
improvement and poverty relief programmes.
“This includes house repairs outside of the city, maintenance for the State’s low cost housing and the People’s Housing Programme for Putatan, Sembulan area and Tanjung Aru areas,” he added.
