Jonathan Chai
KUCHING: The recent government’s decision to allow certain contractors to operate five days a week from 8.30am to 5pm during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period is deemed as a pragmatic approach, said Sarawak Business Federation (SBF).
SBF secretary general Jonathan Chai said such move would allow certain part of the construction sector to resume operation so as to expedite the progress of recovering after the MCO is lifted.
“In an industry like construction, it is impractical to operate on alternative days or couple of days in a week because certain works warrant for continuation of progress in order to achieve the economy of scale.
“Of course, some might express concerns over the existence of yet another cluster of infection of the deadly virus (Covid-19) because of the resumption of certain areas of the construction sector.
“But looking at the stringent guidelines prescribed by Miti (Ministry of International Trade and Industry), I think sufficient precautionary measures have been put in place to reduce the possibility of infection of the workers involved,” he said told The Borneo Post today.
Chai said, for instance, the operators would be required to provide thermal scanners and screenings for Covid-19 on all the workers at the construction site, transportation for the workers.
He added that they must also ensure the practice of social distancing is observed and that the number of workers is less than 50 per cent of the requirements on normal days.
As disclosed recently by Minster of Works Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Chai said before work is allowed to continue, the operators must first apply with Miti.
“Submit the application, get the approval, then only can they resume work which follows all the standard operating procedures (SOP) that have been set,” pointed out Chai.
According to him, only 1,856 applications to Miti have been approved, thus far, from a total of 19,077 submissions as of Tuesday evening.
He said 7,387 submisssions have been rejected while the remainder is still under review.
He added that this in itself showed that it is not easy to secure the requisite approval even though the sector is now practically opened.
“At the moment, only projects that do not require much work on site such as building projects with IBS (Industrialised Building System) score of 70 and above and maintenance and construction works that have achieved 90 per cent physical improvement, projects involving critical works to ensure the safety of construction structures such as slopes, tunnels, bridges and viaducts and land surveys and those construction works carried out by G1 and G2 contractors are allowed.
“Looking at what is happening in Singapore now, those operators or contractors who have employed any foreign workers must take extra precautions in tracking the movement of these workers and everyone concerned must act responsibly to ensure that all the sacrifices and commitment made during the MCO would not be wasted,” added Chai.