LIMBANG: The Public Works Department (PWD) has been told to get its act together and address project delays quickly.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas who was appalled by delays to the RM187 million Limbang Bridge and the RM6.392 million Limbang Museum, said it needs to plan and implement catch-up programmes.
Work on the Limbang Bridge had started in October 2017 and was supposed to be completed in February this year. Now the new completion schedule is April next year.
Meanwhile a new contractor is undertaking the construction of the museum which is expected to be ready by this month.
Uggah said the catch-up programme must be strengthened with strict monitoring by PWD and it should engage with both contractors to find out how they can improve on their capacity and performance.
“In other words, they must find out what are the problems the contractors face and try to sort them out.
“It is very critical that the respective work plans be revised to meet the completion schedules,” said the Infrastructure and Ports Development Minister.
He reiterated that the people and the state government had very high expectation of the ministry to deliver the projects according to plan.
He also advised contractors that during this endemic phase, they must be hands-on in getting the required supplies of construction materials.
He said this was because there would be heavy demand for them when various activities in the construction sector resume.
At the bridge project site, Uggah advised its contractor to start building the pylon on the other side of the river in order to speed up its construction.
Rural Development Deputy Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah, Batu Danau assemblyman Paulus Gumbang, Political Secretary to the Premier Dr Richard Rapu, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development (MIPD) Permanent Secretary Chiew Chee Yau, State PWD Director Richard Tajan and others were present during the visit.
