Try to stand on your own feet — Fadillah

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SIGNED AND SEALED: Fadillah (fourth left) witnessing the exchange of documents by PKMM Sarawak Branch chairman Abang Abdul Nasser Abang Hadari (second left) and Ecopile Engineering Sdn Bhd managing director Kelvin Huong (third right).

KUCHING: Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof has advised Bumiputera contractors in the state not to rely too much on government assistance to secure projects.

He said while it was the government’s policy to protect the socio-economic wellbeing of the people, everyone should try to face challenges on their own.

“We should equip ourselves with skills and knowledge to be competitive. There are various training available from agencies such as CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) and Akademi Binaan Malaysia.

“Besides that, we must manage our finance, time and work quality well,” he said at the Malaysian Malay Contractors Association (PKMM) Sarawak Branch’s annual general meeting (AGM) here yesterday.

Fadillah said another reason why Bumiputera contractors should strive to stand on their own feet was because of the increasing plea for an open tender system.

In addition, the Asean Free Trade Zone (Afta) would be implemented by 2015.

“When Afta is implemented, we not only have to compete with contractors locally, but we also have to compete with the contractors from the Asean region.”

Fadillah said the government had provided various assistance, like establishing contractors’ service centres and the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju), to help the Bumiputera contractors, besides giving government projects through the ballot system.

On the call by PKMM for continuance in the maintenance of federal roads which had been allocated to G1 to G3 Bumiputera contractors through the Public Works Department (PWD) annual ballot system, Fadillah said the government would study the matter from time-to-time to find the best mechanism.

He also reminded companies with new construction inventions to register their creations with his ministry. They should also get the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Ministry of Finance to endorse them.

“These are the processes that you have to go through so that PWD can include them in their specifications in their tenders or contracts.”

On a related matter, Fadillah clarified that contractors in the state were not marginalised compared to their counterparts in the peninsula. It is just that they got involved in the industry later.

‘That is why the government sees that more support needs to be given to contractors in Sabah and Sarawak.”

He noted that the competition was heating up as a result of the increasing number of players in the construction sector.

“What is more important is we give support to our people and find ways to increase the sharing of the ‘pie’.

“If the ‘pie’ can be increased, there will be more opportunities. We are aware that not all will get contracts, and that is why we are still maintaining the ballot system to ensure that contractors will have chance to obtain projects.”

Besides officiating PKMM Sarawak Branch AGM yesterday, Fadillah also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between PKMM Sarawak Branch and Ecopile Engineering Sdn Bhd.