THE Pan Borneo highway project will not be cancelled, but will be audited, said Pakatan Harapan Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen.

Chong assured Sarawakians that the RM22 billion project would continue but a thorough review would be conducted to ensure that every sen spent was accounted for.

“Sarawakians can be reassured the Pan Borneo highway will continue despite the change (in government),” he told a media conference in Kuching today.

Chong, who won the Stampin seat comfortably in the recently concluded general election, said the audit would try to unravel “the layers of sub contracts”.

“Review who are really doing the contracts and what has actually been done – the money trail,” he said.

Chong said every sen of the money spent should go to the project for the people’s benefit, and was not to line the pockets “of some people”.

The awarding of the project to Lebuhraya Pan Borneo had sparked some criticism, as Bustari Yusof, a major figure in the firm, was the elder brother of former works minister Fadillah Yusof and a close confidant of former prime minister Najib Razak.

Chong said efforts would be made to speed up the project, claiming that contractors were deliberately slowing work as payments to them had been delayed.

He also said all major federal projects in the state would be similarly audited.

The 2,000km highway stretches from Sematan in Sarawak to Serudong in Sabah. – May 14, 2018.