KUCHING, Nov 17: The federal government through Malaysian Construction Academy (ABM) had trained 146,746 youths and 274,555 construction personnel in various skills since its establishment in 1997.
Minister of Works Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof emphasised that industrial trainings under ABM were one the government initiatives to enhance the skills and competency of local workers and in turn reduced reliability on foreign workers.
“All trainers who have completed training successfully will be awarded the Construction Skills Competency Certification.
“ABM is under the supervision of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia,” he said in Parliament in responding to Betong MP Robert Lawson Chuat today.
CIDB Malaysia, he informed, has readied various programmes targeted at youth and local workers through training modules that would help them explore works in the construction industry.
Among the programmes implemented including Competency Training for Youth in High Impact Field such as welding, scaffolding, erection, air-conditioning and ventilation, wireman, chargeman, gas pipe fitting, blasting and painting, non-destructive testing (NDT), crane operation, plant operation and plumbing.
“The programme has successfully trained 11,293 participants since 2018,” he said.
Fadillah added that 37,335 participants had undergone the Personnel Construction Skills Competency Training programme aimed at reskilling, upskilling and multiskilling as well as competency assessment including Industrial Building System (IBS), mechanical and electrical and crane operation.
“For the Apprentice Programme to enhance the competency and placement in the construction industry, a total of 4,395 apprentices had completed the training from 2016 to September 2020,” he revealed.
In the aspect of preparing a skilled workforce in Malaysia, he pointed out that the establishment of ABM has opened up opportunities for Malaysians to gain training in the construction industry.
“Nevertheless, the number of workforce able to gain training were dependent on the financial allocation distributed to CIDB Malaysia under the strategic cooperation with relevant agencies.
“As for participants, it is depending on those who are interested to get involved in the industry,” he explained. — DayakDaily
