PUTRAJAYA – The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has agreed to allocate RM7 million to assist small and medium construction companies in speeding up Covid-19 screening for their foreign workers.
Senior Minister (Works) Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said although the Social Security Organisation (Socso) has been conducting Covid-19 screening for these employees, the developers need to bear the test costs first – something small and medium companies cannot afford to do.
“Covid-19 screening is crucial for foreign workers to reduce the risk of the viral infections at construction sites.
“Now we see that the construction sector is active again, but at the same time, the challenge is ensuring adherence to the standard operating procedures as this sector is the second-biggest contributor to Covid-19 cases.”
He said this at a press conference after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin delivered his One Year of Malaysia Prihatin keynote address to mark his first anniversary in office as prime minister.
According to Fadillah, the country’s construction industry suffered losses amounting to RM11.6 billon in the first month of implementation of the movement control order in March last year.
Fadillah said a subsidy of RM50 each was given to every foreign construction personnel with valid registration with CIDB to undergo the Covid-19 screening managed by CIDB through a list of panel clinics.
He said the incentive would be implemented via two methods, namely, screening at the construction site if there are more than 30 applicants and drive-through screening using the RTK-Ag test kit, via which the result can be obtained within 30 minutes.
“The actual cost set is RM100 for registered foreign construction workers with RM50 borne by CIDB while the unregistered ones have to pay the full charge of RM100,” he added.
Meanwhile, CIDB chief executive Datuk Ahmad Asri Abdul Hamid said besides encouraging the employers to send their construction workers for Covid-19 screening, the one-off subsidy is also aimed at encouraging more of the unregistered ones to register themselves with the regulatory body.
He said so far, 140,000 individuals had registered with CIDB and if there was a need, CIDB will request additional allocation for the screening test subsidy.
Employers can sign their workers up for screening online. For further information, call 03-4042-8880.
Meanwhile, information on the construction industry standard operating procedures and guidelines can be obtained from the CIDB Malaysia website, via its official Telegram channel, or by calling the CIDB hotline at 03-5567-3300. – Bernama, March 1, 2021
