State DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen said a search revealed that Malaysians from the peninsula owned 97.8% of PBH Asset Management, which was awarded the contract for road maintenance.

Chong, who is Stampin MP, said it made no sense to award the contract to a company which was only 2.2% Sarawakian-owned, adding it went “against what we have always been fighting for”, the Borneo Post reported.

“The government should help local entrepreneurs, more so when the federal works minister (Alexander Nanta Linggi) is a Sarawakian, a Gabungan Parti Sarawak minister,” he was quoted as saying.

Chong was responding to news reports of PBH Asset being awarded the three-year contract for maintenance work on the Pan Borneo Highway in the state.

He said the minister and the state JKR should reveal the selection process, the number of companies that submitted bids, as well as the grounds for rejection.

Chong also questioned PBH Asset’s expertise and financial capability.

“What justification and qualification did PBH Asset possess that qualified it to be appointed by the works ministry?”