By Amanda L
KUCHING, June 17: Ongoing public infrastructure projects will proceed as scheduled without any deferments as the government can still absorb the rising costs of construction materials, says Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
He stated that while the geopolitical conflict in the Gulf region has impacted global supply chains and driven up material prices, the national economy has not yet experienced severe or critical disruption.
According to him, the Ministry of Works together with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the Public Works Department (JKR) have already formulated and presented immediate, medium and long-term strategy papers to the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) to mitigate the situation.
“For the immediate term, we are closely monitoring the developments of the conflict because it directly impacts our supply chains and material costs.
“However, we have not felt any conspicuous impact yet and we can still absorb the price increases so far,” he told reporters during a press conference today after officiating the inaugural Malaysian Regional Geotechnical and Engineering Conference (MRGEC) 2026.
He emphasized that construction and infrastructure development act as the primary engine of economic growth, making it vital that no public projects are suspended or delayed.
“If we postpone these projects, the economy could contract because we would not be utilizing the allocations provided for the construction industry. Therefore, the government has decided to push forward as the price hikes are still within a manageable threshold,” he explained.
Nanta added that under the current market conditions, federal development allocations for existing projects will remain at their current levels without any immediate budget top-ups.
“Our assessment shows that we can hold the line and contractors should be able to sustain operations at this stage.
“We cannot predict the full trajectory of the conflict but if fuel and petrol supplies face prolonged disruptions, that is when a more pronounced impact will be felt and that is when we will activate our next tier of strategies,” he said. — DayakDaily
