Six ‘Sick’ KKR Projects Face Contract Termination - Nanta

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Six ‘sick’ projects under the Ministry of Works (KKR) are now facing contract termination after recovery efforts failed to improve their performance.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the move reflected the government's firm stance against contractors who failed to fulfil their responsibilities despite the government having met all its obligations.

He said a project was classified as sick if it was more than 60 days or 20 per cent behind its original contractual schedule, whichever came first.

Such projects would be closely monitored by supervising officers and the ministry to ensure contractors took the necessary steps to get them back on track.

“If a contractor's performance remains unchanged or deteriorates further, the contract will be terminated to protect the government's interests and ensure the project is completed for the benefit of the people,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Nanta was responding to Datuk Seri Sh Mohmed Puzi Sh Ali (BN-Pekan), who asked about the number and value of sick projects and the action taken against the contractors involved.

To speed up recovery efforts, he said KKR closely monitored troubled projects through the Project Problem Solving Governance (PSG) Committee, which identified problems and determined appropriate recovery measures.

The committee also ensured that the government had fulfilled all its obligations before referring projects to the Contract Coordination Panel (CCP) to address issues such as extensions of time and variation orders.

As of Oct 31, 38 of the 880 projects under construction nationwide were classified as sick, involving a current value of RM2.08 billion.

This represented 4.32 per cent of all projects under construction, a slight increase from 33 projects or 3.77 per cent in September.

However, the figure remained below the peak recorded in July this year, when 55 projects, or 6.51 per cent, were classified as sick.

Nanta said KKR would continue to strengthen monitoring and intervention efforts, including preparing recovery plans, conducting regular assessments of physical progress and coordinating solutions to implementation issues.

-- BERNAMA