Risk Management Lessons from the Pan Borneo Highway Project A Comparative Case Study of Public Infrastructure Delivery in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

The Pan-Borneo Highway (PBH) is one of the largest transport infrastructural projects in Malaysia, which seeks to boost the level of regional connectivity and social-economic growth in Sabah and Sarawak. However, due to its strategic importance, project implementation has suffered governance inefficiencies, procurement instability, land acquisition wrangles and disproportionate institutional capacity. The paper explores risk management approaches in the PBH project in a comparative case-study methodology, with an emphasis on the influence of the differences in the governance structures and socio-administrative conditions of the two states on the results of project deliveries. uantitative performance data, such as construction progress ratios, contractor continuity rates, and the approval schedules, were analysed to reveal association between risk factors and delivery disturbances. The results indicate that both states used formal risk management frameworks but was mainly technical in nature with underestimation of governance, contractual and community related risks. Sarawak showed relative best practices of inter-agency coordination and adaptive contract practice that resulted in more stability of delivery. Conversely, the project disruption in Sabah was much greater because of fragmented institutional settings, over-transference of risk on the side of the contractor and protracted Native Customary Rights problems. The research findings are summarized to conclude that less important than recorded risk procedures in an effort to determine infrastructure risk outcomes are contextual governance capacity and effectiveness of stakeholder engagement. The study provides empirical evidence to the literature on the risk governance of megaprojects, and give policy recommendations on enhancing the collaborative procurement and institutional coordination and the community-based risk management frameworks in future Malaysian transport infrastructure development.