KUCHING, Aug 6 — The price of building materials including cement is expected to drop in the near future, said Senior Minister of Public Works Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

He said this would help ease the burden borne by contractors who are implementing government projects.

"I understand the situation with prices of building materials is now recovering after the price of steel started to fall — only the price of cement is still high.

"However, I am confident that it (cement price) will also stabilise in the near future,” he said when met after visiting the Jelajah Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia (JAKM) Sarawak Exhibition at the Petra Jaya Exhibition Square here today.

Fadillah said the government has undertaken various approaches to help contractors who are faced with the increase in the price of construction goods.

"One of them is the implementation of the Variation of Price (VOP) with the Ministry of Finance having already approved (the price reduction) of four items which I understand include the price of steel,” he said.

On how many contractors have problems related to building materials, Fadillah said the average contractor is faced with the issue.

"But when we have introduced VOP, this problem is no longer an issue — it is decreasing,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob previously informed the government to add 11 more building materials in the implementation of the VOP to help the contractors, in addition to ensuring that projects can be completed on time.

He said, it has brought the total number of building materials in the VOP to 15 including cement, bricks as well as walls, glass, mixed stones, ceiling materials, roofing materials and others. — Borneo Post