KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — The Covid-19 pandemic, which has impacted various aspects of life including the country’s construction industry and infrastructure development, was not a factor for the Ministry of Works (KKR) to successfully achieve 99 per cent of its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) through the implementation of its projects and programmes throughout last year.
Disclosing the ministry’s one-year achievement to the media recently, Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said 131 projects were implemented under the ministry, 111 of which worth RM3.955 billion were completed last year.
Citing the outcome of the Economic Stimulus Package as among the initiatives close to the heart of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, he said the allocation of RM450 million under the package had benefitted 962 of G1 to G4 small contractors.
“There are 1,056 projects involved with the financial achievement of 94.6 per cent through additional allocation under the stimulus package received by the ministry to create jobs for small contractors and help boost the economic growth while the country is facing the pandemic,” he said.
Fadillah said a total of 416,922 industry players had benefited from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Prihatin Package which aims to ease the financial burden of contractors and provide opportunities for construction personnel to undergo courses with CIDB, involving an allocation of RM63.2 million.
The ministry’s excellent performance can also be seen through the 310.1km Central Spine Road (CSR) project in Kelantan and Pahang with the approved overall cost of RM7.57 billion which had been implemented in stages in the 9th Malaysia Plan.
“The status of the project is now 66.53kmc completed, 92.17km under construction, 64.85km in the procurement stage and 78.35km in the planning stage,” he said.
This infra-rakyat project also involves the construction of Kota Bharu-Kuala Krai Highway in Kelantan (KBKK) covering a distance of 71.4 km to be implemented in three packages with a total cost approved totalling RM2.34 billion.
On the Pan Borneo Highway project, Fadillah said it is now 60 per cent completed in Sarawak and 45 per cent completed in Sabah.
The ministry’s achievements were also visible with the successful implementation of the infra-rakyat project involving the Putra Bridge in Tanjung Lumpur, Pahang and the flyover from the Bukit Setongkol interchange to Kemunting in Jalan Kuantan-Gambang, he said.
Fadillah said the project, worth RM205.5 million, which aimed at providing better and safer road facilities in accordance with the development around Kuantan, was completed on Sept 25 last year and officially launched on Feb 21 this year.
He said apart from that, the upgrading of the Tanjong Karang-Sabak Bernam federal road in Selangor is expected to be completed on Dec 15 this year at a cost of RM807.7 million while the Teluk Intan-Kampung Lekir road project in Perak is also scheduled for completion on Aug 6 at a cost of RM706.55 million.
In terms of road user safety, Fadillah said a total of 159 blackspots or accident-prone locations on federal roads throughout the country were repaired last year at a cost of RM43.1 million.
“Ten blackspot locations on highways across the country had also been repaired for the safety of 4.5 million road users at a cost of RM1.2 million,” he said.
Besides, the ministry had also developed the Highway Network Development Plan 2030 (HNDP 2030) to identify the needs for road infrastructure in Peninsular Malaysia to ensure the availability of a good road network for the convenience of the people.
“The HNDP document outlines the implementation priorities for the high-impact projects, able to boost and strengthen economic growth, and will be the main reference for the ministry and related agencies to implement new road or road-upgrading projects for 2021 to 2030 (under the 12MP and 13MP),” he said.
Fadillah also explained about the ministry’s digitalisation efforts during the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) to expedite the tender application process as there were contractors who are not allowed to cross borders to purchase and submit the tender documents.
“We have introduced an online system which enables contractors to download the tender document and submit the documents personally or by courier services,” he said.
On the KPIs that had not been achieved, Fadillah said they were mainly due to the postponement of the projects following the implementation of the MCO1.0, as it restricted the interstate movement of construction materials.
“Therefore, for government projects under the ministry’s supervision, we have given a 114 days extension, while the projects under the Highway Authority were given automatic extension,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fadillah said his ministry also estimated that more than RM200 million were needed for the repair of roads badly damaged by floods and permanent improvements would be implemented as soon as the allocation was approved.
He said temporary routes and bailey bridges had been installed as temporary measures for areas where road connections were cut off. — Bernama
