Uggah (second right) and Fatimah (second left) visiting the site for the proposed Kampung Medong Seberang/Kampung Kekan Seberang Road project in Dalat.
KUCHING (Aug 27): Contracts for 18 critically delayed projects in Sarawak have been terminated, and new contractors will be sought to continue them, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
He said contractors who obtained construction tenders must ensure they were able to deliver and to deliver as scheduled.
“We have contractors who are good at bidding for contracts. But when they obtained them, they failed to deliver and decided not to continue.
“This is one of the big problems we face in the state,” he said this after a briefing on government projects implementation performance for the Mukah Division here today during a one-day working visit.
Most of the critically delayed projects were infrastructure projects, Uggah added.
He was accompanied by the Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah during the briefing by Mukah Public Work Department (JKR) divisional engineer Abdul Talib Jarni and his team.
Uggah, who is Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development, said when any projects were announced by Sarawak Premier and other ministers, they wanted them to be done properly.
“On the part of the rakyat, they are naturally very excited with the announcement and looked forward for them to be done successfully and as scheduled.
“Of course they will be frustrated and angry with the government and their leaders upon the non deliverance,” he said.
Uggah said JKR and the ministry must find effective ways to rehabilitate critically delayed or sick projects.
“Both JKR and the ministry too must come up with effective approaches to supervise all construction processes and the contractor’s performance,” he said.
Later, Uggah said the contract to build the 11.5-kilometre long Kampung Medong/Lebrassau/Kampung Klid in Dalat had now been terminated.
The RM44.4 million contract awarded in April 2020 and scheduled to be delivered by October 2022 now suffers a 550-day delay.
“Our plan is to table the proposal for a new contractor during this September state cabinet meeting,” he said.
On the proposed Kampung Medong Seberang/Kampung Kekan Seberang Road project which had been approved much earlier on, Uggah said both JKR and the ministry would work out a programme to implement it.
“We are going to appoint a consultant for it. I have directed JKR to work out a plan so that work on it can start soon.
“It is very important that it can start very soon,” he said.
Meanwhile in Sibu, Uggah also visited the construction site of the Sibu Jaya/ Kong Yit Khim Road project in Stabau.
The 6.75-kilometre dual carriageway project costs RM98,528 million while its construction period was from March 25, 2019 to March 24, 2021.
Uggah said now the completion date has been revised to July 17, 2023.
“There seem to be problems so we have directed the contractor to increase the machinery and manpower.
“With more machinery and manpower, we are confident the project can be completed by the new date,” he said.
The permanent secretary to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development Chiew Chee Yau was also present.