MIRI – The Sarawak government has promised to rescue all sick and abandoned infrastructure projects in the state by the end of this year.
State Deputy Infrastructure Development and Ports Minister Aidel Lariwoo today said the state government aims to hire rescue contractors to complete these delayed projects.
Speaking at a press conference today in Kuching after a ministry event, he said by next year, the state aims for “zero sick project” status.
“We are terminating the contracts of contractors who had failed to deliver their projects. We are appointing rescue contractors for these sick projects,” he said.
“There is a long list of infrastructure projects in the state that have been delayed or abandoned.”
He said that the projects eyed for “rescue” are divided into two categories – under the state and under the federal government – and involve public infrastructure like bridges and roads.
Aidel stressed that the ministry had already replaced numerous contractors of failed projects with rescue contractors.
“These rescue contractors are doing a good job so far,” he said.
Many contractors had failed to deliver after being hit by escalating costs of raw materials like sand and steel, he explained. “The costs of these raw materials keep rising all the time. These contractors also faced problems caused by labour shortages.”
“During the Covid-19 period, many workers stopped working. The foreign workers left the state and they did not return even until now.
“So, there is a serious shortage of workers now and this makes the situation even more difficult,” he explained.
In August last year, the Public Works Department (PWD) had revealed in Kuching that it had identified 95 crucial projects worth RM10.357 billion throughout Sarawak that have been critically delayed or abandoned.
These projects included important infrastructure projects like government clinics, schools, teachers’ quarters, village roads and bridges, and also four packages of the Pan Borneo Highway.
The PWD, in a press statement, had then indicated the statistics above were current as of end of June last year.
The contractors for 18 of these delayed projects had been terminated from the work packages.
Among the crucial projects delayed was the Long Busang Clinic.
On July 12 last year, The Vibes had reported that the Long Busang Clinic, a crucial government clinic project that was launched eight years ago for the thousands of natives living in the upstream of the mega Bakun Dam in central Sarawak, had been abandoned and apparently forgotten.
Sarawak PKR information chief Abun Sui had told The Vibes the clinic was said to have cost RM3 million in government allocations.
The project was launched way back in 2015 by local politicians from the ruling government. The allocation came from the federal Health Ministry, but the construction was given to a local Sarawak contractor appointed by the PWD, he had said. – The Vibes, June 20, 2023
