By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Dec 15: There are currently about 11 “sick projects” in Sarawak involving the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW).
Deputy Prime Minister Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof revealed that five of these projects faced issues with contractors, three are struggling due to the implementation process, one requires redesign due to changes, and the rest were impacted by utility-related problems.
“Some of the projects are almost completed but (are) waiting for (an) implementation of utilities such as electricity supply and many others from (the) utility company,” he said during a press conference after visiting the SMK Kota Samarahan construction site today.
Fadillah, who is also the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), explained that other issues include land problems, changes in project scope, and the need for additional funds.
For instance, he said, projects approved in 2019 could not proceed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, causing a two-year delay which resulted into an increase in project costs and requires additional funding.
With regards to the additional allocation, Fadillah said that there will be constraints at the Federal government level due to the number of projects requiring it.
“We have to re-evaluate. So that’s why we decided earlier that for (sick) projects like this, and because the allocation cannot be provided, we may have to postpone their implementation until the next Malaysia plan,” he added. – DayakDaily
