PENAMPANG, Feb 16 — The special monitoring committee on development projects in Sabah during a meeting in January came up with three proposals to address the delay issues.

The committee is co-chaired by Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick and Deputy Chief Minister cum Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.

Ewon who was met after officiating the first Live Hub TikTok Shop X TEKUN in the country, said that among the proposed interventions was for the Sabah Public Works Department (PWD) to increase its manpower.

Ewon, when asked for the outcome of the committee’s meeting last month said the state PWD will hire additional contract workers, specifically assistant architectural engineers, to help meet the needs of engineers in PWD in monitoring the implementation of all Malaysian Plan projects across Sabah.

“Secondly, we proposed implementing a design-to-cost approach because many projects from the 10th and 11th Malaysia Plans have yet to start due to significant cost changes. For example, a project was initially allocated RM10 million, but after consultants conducted field assessments, the cost increased to RM30 million, a RM20 million difference.

“This requires a Notice of Change (NOC) process. And it is not just one project; many projects in Sabah require major cost adjustments. The Ministry of Economy faces difficulties in approving additional allocations because of the large amounts involved,” he said.

According to Ewon, some projects require cost adjustments of up to RM100 million therefore the proposed intervention is to implement the design-to-cost approach, where projects are carried out in phases

“For example, in this scenario, we should first implement whatever can be done with the RM10 million, which was the original allocation. Meanwhile, the difference, the additional allocation, can be proposed in the next phase under the 13th Malaysia Plan,” he said.

The third intervention is the coordination between technical departments as there have been cases where funding was only provided for road construction or flood barrier construction, but not for utility relocation, he disclosed.

“For instance, relocating electricity lines or water pipes could not be carried out due to a lack of funding.

Each utility department then needs to secure separate funding for the relocation, which causes delays,” said Ewon.

This does not even include land-related issues where in some cases, compensation payments and other matters arise, sometimes, even after compensation has been paid, landowners refuse to move.

The Penampang flood mitigation project is currently delayed due to land acquisition issues, as some landowners or homeowners are unwilling to relocate, he stressed.

“We have proposed interventions to address these issues collaboratively, especially at the Sabah state government level. The next meeting will be in March and hopefully, we will receive updates. However, one action that has already been taken is that PWD Sabah has advertised for the hiring of engineers, assistant engineers, and architects to meet the current needs,” he said.

According to Ewon, the Sarawak government, after PWD Sarawak was given the authority to implement projects worth RM50 million and below immediately hired 300 engineers, assistant engineers, quantity surveyors and architects.

“Sabah, however, has been two years behind, and only now is the recruitment process being advertised.

This means that our proposed intervention has been taken into account and is now being implemented by the Sabah government,” he said.

“The committee decided that all projects that have yet to begin should start as soon as possible. Because as long as they don’t start, we are losing out … the people are losing out. And how can we request new projects under the 13th Malaysia Plan when so many projects from the last three plans — the 10th, 11th, and 12th Malaysia Plans — haven’t even started?

“So, my KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is to get these projects started. Once a project has begun, we have another platform, the State Development Action Council to monitor their progress.

“My goal is to ensure that all pending projects get started,” said Ewon. — The Borneo Post