🔀 For Everyone

Pan Borneo Highway 2026 — Progress & Phase Status

Q: When will the Pan Borneo Highway be fully completed?

The target has moved again. Phase 1A reached 87.86% in July 2026 and now targets mid-2028, revised from the first quarter of 2027 given in February. Phase 1B stood at 13.56% in February 2026, the most recent figure published for it. The Works Ministry now gives the fourth quarter of 2030 as the target for both phases together, replacing the earlier 2029. Phases 2 and 3 remain at planning stage with no funding and no timeline.

Q: What is the total cost of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah?

Phase 1 costs RM24.889 billion — RM10.9 billion for Phase 1A and RM13.989 billion for Phase 1B. That is roughly double the RM12.86 billion estimated in 2015. The Works Ministry attributes the increase to the switch to conventional federal contracting after the project delivery partner model was terminated in 2019, along with changes in scope and design, geotechnical and soil treatment works, large-scale utility relocation, and inflation in materials and labour. The project is fully federally funded. Land acquisition is budgeted separately at RM2.53 billion, of which about RM1.2 billion had been paid out by mid-2026.

Q: Will tolls apply on the Pan Borneo Highway?

No. The Pan Borneo Highway is toll-free. The federal government has committed to this repeatedly since 2015. Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi restated it in August 2025: unlike expressways in Peninsular Malaysia, Pan Borneo is the main route in Sabah and Sarawak with no alternative road, so there is no justification for tolls. There is no concessionaire and no toll operator.

Q: Why is the project running late?

The officially cited causes are land acquisition, utility relocation, and shortages of workers and materials. The bigger structural cause was the termination of the project delivery partner model in 2019, which required the remaining scope to be reassessed and re-tendered under conventional federal contracting. As at February 2026 Phase 1A was running about 11 percentage points behind schedule and Phase 1B about 6 points behind.

Q: Who is building the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah?

The Ministry of Works (KKR) implements the project directly, with JKR Sabah acting as Superintending Officer and individual work packages awarded to contractors. Sabah's original project delivery partner, Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd, was terminated in September 2019. (Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd was the Sarawak project delivery partner and never had a role in Sabah.)

Last updated: 20 August 2026

Upgraded trunk road section of the Pan Borneo Highway cutting through Sabah forest landscape with construction equipment visible

ℹ️ The quick answer

Phase 1 of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah runs 706 km from Sindumin on the Sarawak border to Tawau, at a cost of RM24.889 billion. It is split into Phase 1A (318 km, 16 work packages, RM10.9 billion) and Phase 1B (388 km, 19 packages, RM13.989 billion). As at July 2026 Phase 1A was 87.86% complete, having been 86.6% against a 97.55% schedule in February. Phase 1B was 13.56% against 19.6% in February 2026, the most recent figure published. Phase 1A now targets mid-2028, and both phases together the fourth quarter of 2030. The highway is toll-free and fully federally funded.

🛣️

706

Phase 1 Length

km, Sindumin to Tawau

🏗️

87.86%

Phase 1A Progress

as at July 2026

🚧

13.56%

Phase 1B Progress

vs 19.6% scheduled (Feb 2026)

💰

RM24.9

Phase 1 Cost

billion

📅

Mid-2028

Phase 1A Target

third revision

⏱️

Q4 2030

Phase 1 Target

both phases together

⚠️ Figures are point-in-time

Progress percentages on this project change at almost every parliamentary sitting, and officials have occasionally quoted figures that conflict with each other. Every number on this page carries the date it was stated. The most recent precise figures come from the Dewan Rakyat on 26 February 2026. Last verified 14 August 2026.

Phase progress against schedule (as at 26 February 2026)

Both phases are running behind schedule — Phase 1A by about 11 percentage points, Phase 1B by about 6. The headline completion figure alone understates the delay.

Source: Deputy Works Minister, Dewan Rakyat, 26 February 2026

Project overview

The Pan Borneo Highway is the largest road project ever undertaken in Sabah. Phase 1 covers 706 km running from Sindumin, on the Sabah–Sarawak border, through Beaufort, Papar, Kota Kinabalu, Telupid, Sandakan and Lahad Datu, to Tawau in the south-east. Rather than building new alignments everywhere, the programme mostly widens, straightens and upgrades existing trunk roads, adding new sections where the terrain demands it.

It is not a Peninsular-style tolled expressway. It is a federally funded trunk road upgrade, delivered as 35 separate work packages that open individually as they finish, which is why parts of the route are already in use while others have barely started.

Delivery changed hands early in the project's life. Sabah's original project delivery partner, Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd, was appointed in April 2016 and terminated in September 2019, with only a small share of the work complete. The Ministry of Works now implements the project directly, with JKR Sabah as Superintending Officer. That switch is the single biggest reason the cost roughly doubled.

Phase 1A: 318 km, 16 work packages

Phase 1A carries the west coast trunk — Sindumin, Sipitang, Beaufort, Bongawan, Papar, Putatan, Kota Kinabalu, Inanam, Sepanggar and on towards Rampayan Laut — plus three detached packages on the east coast: the Tawau–Semporna junction, the Lahad Datu Bypass, and the Sandakan–Telupid stretch. It is not one continuous road, and it does not run "Kota Kinabalu to Kimanis": Kimanis is not a Phase 1A boundary at all.

Phase 1A costs RM10.9 billion. It stood at 86.6% against a scheduled 97.55% in February 2026, and at 87.86% in July 2026 — a gain of about 1.3 points in five months. The completion target has now moved three times: October 2026, then the first quarter of 2027, and in July 2026 the Deputy Works Minister told the Dewan Negara it is expected in mid-2028. Nine further packages were due to open by the end of 2026.

Note that official statements have put the package count at both 15 and 16, apparently reflecting the award of the Serusop–Pituru package. Sixteen is the figure used by the Works Minister and in the ministry's own cost breakdown.

Phase 1A reported progress, 2024-2026

Each point is a figure stated publicly by a minister or in a parliamentary answer on that date. Progress has flattened noticeably through 2026.

Source: Bernama, Dewan Rakyat answers and KKR statements, 2024–2026

Phase 1B: 388 km, 19 work packages

Phase 1B is the larger and later phase, covering four separate corridors rather than a single stretch:

North-west: Kota Belud to Kudat
Central: Telupid to Ranau
North-east: Lahad Datu to Sandakan
South-east: Tawau to Lahad Datu

Letters of acceptance went to 13 contractors in October 2024, with construction periods of 36 to 48 months. The allocation is RM13.989 billion, fully federally funded. As at 26 February 2026 the phase stood at 13.56% against a scheduled 19.6%. The Works Ministry now targets the fourth quarter of 2030 for Phase 1B together with Phase 1A, replacing the fourth quarter of 2028 given in February.

Three of the central packages — running from Kampung Lumou Baru through Kampung Toupos and Kampung Nabutan to Ranau, some 70.2 km in total — were reported underway in April 2025.

Phases 2 and 3: still at planning stage

Beyond Phase 1, two further phases exist on paper only. Answering the State Assembly in November 2024, Deputy Chief Minister Shahelmey Yahya set out:

Phase 2 — the Tamparuli–Ranau alignment, around 98 km
Phase 3 — Kimanis–Keningau–Kalabakan–Tawau, around 432 km

Both are at planning stage, with implementation dependent on government approval and financial capacity. No cost estimate, contract award or start date has been published for either. Anyone quoting a budget or a completion year for these phases is guessing.

Wide dual-carriageway section under construction with overhead signage and Malaysian construction workers visible — Phase 1A construction

Heavy earthworks cut through hillside for the Pan Borneo Highway with construction vehicles working — Interior earthworks

Elevated road viaduct spanning valley with tropical forest surrounding — Viaduct section — landscape integration

What has actually opened

The highway opens in pieces. Four packages opened between 2022 and 2023:

Donggongon–Papar — opened August 2022
Mile 32 to Kampung Lot M, Sandakan — opened November 2022
Tawau to the Semporna junction — opened August 2023
Lahad Datu Bypass — opened October 2023

Nine further packages were scheduled to open during 2026. Among them, the Putatan–Menggatal section opened in July 2026, giving traffic a route around Kota Kinabalu city centre. Several more are slated for 2027, with the remainder staged out towards 2030.

Why it has run late

The causes cited officially are consistent across parliamentary answers and ministry statements:

Land acquisition — disputes and compensation have held up work fronts. Land acquisition for Phase 1 is budgeted at RM2.53 billion, of which about RM1.2 billion had been paid by mid-2026.
Utility relocation — SESB power lines, water mains and telecoms sit within the road reserve and must be moved, in sequence, without cutting off nearby communities.
Worker and material shortages — securing labour and machinery has been difficult, particularly in the period after COVID.
Terrain and soil — stretches through the interior cross soft ground and hilly terrain, complicating foundations, drainage and embankments.

Underlying all of it is the 2019 termination of the project delivery partner model, which required the remaining scope to be reassessed five years after the original estimate and re-procured under conventional federal contracting.

Cost and funding

Phase 1 was estimated at RM12.86 billion in 2015. It now stands at RM24.889 billion — RM10.9 billion for Phase 1A and RM13.989 billion for Phase 1B.

The Works Ministry attributes the increase to the change in delivery model, changes in scope and design, geotechnical structures and soil treatment, large-scale utility relocation, and inflation in the price of steel, bitumen, cement, machinery and labour.

The project is fully federally funded. There is no state cost-share, no private concession and no toll. Phases 2 and 3 have no allocation.

ℹ️ No tolls

The Pan Borneo Highway is toll-free, and has been a stated federal commitment since 2015. The reasoning given by the Works Minister is that unlike expressways in Peninsular Malaysia, Pan Borneo is the main route across Sabah and Sarawak with no alternative road alongside it, so there is no basis for charging. There is no concessionaire and no toll operator appointed.

Frequently asked questions

Q When will the Pan Borneo Highway be fully completed?

The target has moved again. Phase 1A reached 87.86% in July 2026 and now targets mid-2028, revised from the first quarter of 2027 given in February. Phase 1B stood at 13.56% in February 2026, the most recent figure published for it. The Works Ministry now gives the fourth quarter of 2030 as the target for both phases together, replacing the earlier 2029. Phases 2 and 3 remain at planning stage with no funding and no timeline.

Q What is the total cost of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah?

Phase 1 costs RM24.889 billion — RM10.9 billion for Phase 1A and RM13.989 billion for Phase 1B. That is roughly double the RM12.86 billion estimated in 2015. The Works Ministry attributes the increase to the switch to conventional federal contracting after the project delivery partner model was terminated in 2019, along with changes in scope and design, geotechnical and soil treatment works, large-scale utility relocation, and inflation in materials and labour. The project is fully federally funded. Land acquisition is budgeted separately at RM2.53 billion, of which about RM1.2 billion had been paid out by mid-2026.

Q Will tolls apply on the Pan Borneo Highway?

No. The Pan Borneo Highway is toll-free. The federal government has committed to this repeatedly since 2015. Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi restated it in August 2025: unlike expressways in Peninsular Malaysia, Pan Borneo is the main route in Sabah and Sarawak with no alternative road, so there is no justification for tolls. There is no concessionaire and no toll operator.

Q Can I drive the Pan Borneo Highway now (2026)?

Parts of it, yes — the highway opens package by package rather than all at once. Four packages opened between 2022 and 2023: Donggongon–Papar, Mile 32–Kampung Lot M in Sandakan, Tawau–Semporna junction, and the Lahad Datu Bypass. Nine more were scheduled to open during 2026, including the Putatan–Menggatal stretch that opened in July 2026 and bypasses Kota Kinabalu city centre. Elsewhere, expect active construction, lane closures and diversions.

Q What are the Phase 2 and Phase 3 details?

Answering the State Assembly in November 2024, Deputy Chief Minister Shahelmey Yahya said Phase 2 covers the Tamparuli–Ranau alignment of around 98 km, and Phase 3 runs Kimanis–Keningau–Kalabakan–Tawau over around 432 km. Both remain at planning stage. Implementation depends on government approval and financial capacity. No cost, contract or start date has been published for either.

Q Why is the project running late?

The officially cited causes are land acquisition, utility relocation, and shortages of workers and materials. The bigger structural cause was the termination of the project delivery partner model in 2019, which required the remaining scope to be reassessed and re-tendered under conventional federal contracting. As at February 2026 Phase 1A was running about 11 percentage points behind schedule and Phase 1B about 6 points behind.

Q Who is building the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah?

The Ministry of Works (KKR) implements the project directly, with JKR Sabah acting as Superintending Officer and individual work packages awarded to contractors. Sabah's original project delivery partner, Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd, was terminated in September 2019. (Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd was the Sarawak project delivery partner and never had a role in Sabah.)

Sources & References 8 sources

Last verified: 20 August 2026