KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The failure of the appointed subcontractor to carry out tiling works, was the cause of delay in the construction of the combat diving pool at Iskandar Camp, Mersing, Johor.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said following that, the process to appoint a new subcontractor is being carried out by the Public Works Department (JKR) through an open tender process, to continue the work.

“The combat diving pool project had a problem with the appointed subcontractor who could not carry out the work and had to find a replacement.

“The appointed contractors usually have the expertise and ability, but it is not easy to find a replacement, the process needs to be tendered so it takes time. We got assurances from JKR that this matter will be given special attention... hope it can be implemented as soon as possible,” he said at a press conference after a site visit to the SASaR (One Member, One House) Housing Project in Sungai Besi here, today.

Mohamed Khaled said the project is now 98.4 per cent complete.

He said that although the project is a Ministry of Defence project, it is managed by JKR and if there is a delay in construction, the contractor involved will be penalised.

Yesterday, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim ordered the party responsible for building the combat diving pool at Iskandar Camp, Mersing, Johor to explain the cause of the delay.

Sultan Ibrahim, who is also the Colonel Commandant of the Special Forces Group (GGK), said the pool, which should have been fully completed in December 2022, is still under construction, apart from the project signs being demolished.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the pool was officiated by Sultan Ibrahim in May 2018.

The project which is equipped with various facilities such as ship mockups, entry points for entry by air as well as many other basic operational support facilities are essential for 21 GGK members to improve individual and team competence, especially in dealing with threats from the maritime domain.

Meanwhile, following the crisis in the Middle East involving Iran and Israel, Mohamed Khaled said members and officers of the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) 850-11 in Lebanon were reported to be safe.

“The reports we received, all of them are safe...our team is serving and deployed not in the border area between Lebanon and Israel but abit further in. But we always inform them to prioritise safety,” he said. — Bernama

* An earlier version of this article contained an error by Bernama which has since been rectified.