Awang reminded Sabahans of the Warisan-led government’s 2019 decision to terminate the project delivery partner contract for the state’s portion of the highway, saying the move had delayed progress and burdened the people.

“It was a costly and embarrassing policy failure,” he said in a statement, calling it a hasty populist decision made without a proper cost-benefit analysis.

Shafie Apdal, then chief minister, was reported to have said at the time that the contract was terminated after discussions with Putrajaya because of the high costs, and to ensure state involvement in the implementation for greater transparency.

The project spans more than 2,000km in total, including about 1,060km in Sarawak, about 706km in Sabah, and the remainder in Brunei.

In April, works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi reportedly said that four of the 16 Phase 1A packages in Sabah had been wrapped up, while the remaining 12 were 81.7% completed.

Nineteen packages for Phase 1B were under way, with 3.06% progress recorded.

Awang said Sabahans deserved an assurance that the highway would not again fall victim to “narrow-minded politics”.

“If Warisan returns to power, will Pan Borneo Highway be sacrificed again? The people deserve to know their stand today,” he said, adding that the project should not be used as a political experiment.

“It is a symbol of development, economic justice and Sabah’s future. We must not allow the mistakes of 2019 to be repeated.”