KUCHING: Lebuhraya Borneo Utara (LBU) which adopts the project delivery partner (PDP) concept does not choose contractors for the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak (PBHS) mega project.
Its chief executive officer Safuani Abdul Hamid made it clear LBU has no voting rights in the tender committee.
“Such a right is held by representatives from the governments of Malaysia and Sarawak,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
Added Safuani: “In fact, all major procurement decisions are made and finalised by the government. Only upon such approval does LBU award the works package contracts as per the PDP agreement.
“As a PDP, LBU provides an advisory role in the tender committee at the evaluation and recommendation phase. It plays a supporting technical and contractual role to review, analyse and compile findings to enable the government to make informed and timely decisions.”
He said efficiency, accountability and transparency in procurement of contracts is important.
“The governance structure of the PDP model promotes the above.
“LBU is thankful for the checks and balances, governance, professionalism and support provided by government agencies towards the delivery of the PBHS. This positive environment is the catalyst to drive the pace of implementation and sets an environment to overcome project challenges,” Safuani said.
Another feature that promotes efficiency and accountability is the project design finalisation, which is put through an elaborate process of value management (VM) involving government specialists, advisers and facilitators, he said.
He also disclosed that PDP conducts its own front-end and back-end engineering internal design and constructability checks where the aim is to optimise design options.
“Subsequently, tender drawings are prepared based on the final VM decisions.”
