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By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, June 16: Bumiputera contractors must focus on the project awarded to them to avoid the occurrence of more sick projects like Jalan Baru Matang.
Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said government analysis determined that projects became sick due to frequent ‘bertukar tangan’ (changing of hands) and contractors who passed the awarded project to others to implement.
“Just to give you an example, in Kuching itself, the road project in Matang; why it cannot be implemented was because it changed hands. This happened in Limbang; the road project up to Gunung Buda. Thirdly, the bridge in Marudi is also a problem.
“That is because we do not have this pre-qualification method. We had an open tender and when we saw the weakness, we improved the tender procedure and at the same time, we want to award the project to Bumiputera contractors who can deliver it before its deadline,” he said during Gabungan Jurutera Perunding Bumiputera Sarawak’s (GJPBS) Anniversary Dinner and Engineers Awards 2023 broadcast live by Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas) on Facebook tonight.
He further pointed out that when there is a delay in project, many irresponsible quarters would take advantage of spinning the issue by blaming the government for the sick project.
“However, I know that not all Bumiputera contractors are like that. There are only a few bad apples who want to take the opportunity (to be awarded the project) but are not serious on working on it.
“What I want to deliver here is that if there is a project awarded to you, focus on implementing the project because there will be a second and third round since we have plans up to the year 2030,” he added. — DayakDaily
