KUCHING, March 18: The Ministry of Works is willing to reconsider, forgive and even lend a helping hand to contractors who fail to deliver completed projects on time as long as they have valid reasons.
Works Minister Baru Bian said there have been some cases where the contractors could not meet the deadline due to genuine reasons, and these contractors should be given a chance and at the same time be helped by the ministry to ensure that the projects would be completed swiftly.
“When our officers go to the ground (to meet contractors), they will look at what are the real problems, and sometimes you will face problems that you just cannot do anything about, like accessibility in rural areas for example. I was told the IBS (Industrialised Building System) is difficult to be transported to the rural areas of Sarawak, for example.
“If the issues and problems are real, we will understand. But if it’s because of negligence, laziness, not taking things seriously or plain incompetence, then we have no choice but to take action (against errant contractors),” he told reporters after chairing the state’s first Action Council Meeting at the Malaysia Tax Academy here this afternoon.
Baru cited the new Sri Aman Hospital project where the problem faced by contractors had genuinely gotten out of hand.
“For example, maybe the administration of the contractor company has issues. I know this because the Sri Aman Hospital project is a good example. So we came and made some suggestions to them.
“Another issue frequently faced by contractors nationwide is shortage of workers and labourers,” he added.
Baru said his ministry will consider the issues faced by contractors for delayed projects, as long as they are willing to work with the ministry to ensure the projects will be completed eventually and not turned into sick projects.
“We want to know their problems, work with them; how we can help them and to encourage them. However if they are not willing to listen to us, what can we say,” said Baru. — DayakDaily
