KOTA KINABALU: The government has disbursed RM1.147 billion in compensation to land and property owners as of Apr 1 this year to facilitate the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project.
"The implementation policy of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah and Sarawak aims to upgrade the existing main Federal roads," said State Public Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
"However, since the existing Federal roads are single-lane two-way roads being upgraded to dual-lane two-way roads, it involves acquiring wider land.
"The compensation for land and structures in Sarawak is lower compared to Sabah because in Sarawak, their existing road corridors are 100 meters wide. Whereas in Sabah, the existing corridors are only 30 meters wide," he said during a question-and-answer session at the state assembly sitting here.
Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Senallang) queried the amount of compensation paid for land acquisition under the project delivery partner (PDP) scheme for the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sabah.
Shahelmey, who also serves as Deputy Chief Minister, disclosed that the PDP had disbursed RM651 million to 1,591 land and property owners under the 12 road packages up to 2019.