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Saturday August 22, 2009

Turning to total asset management

AT YOUR SERVICE BY DATUK SERI PROF IR DR JUDIN ABDUL KARIM


PWD is no longer just a government contractor but also the keeper of the value and timeliness of the projects.

THE standard tagline “Jasa Kepada Rakyat” (working for the people) found on the ubiquitous signboards for government projects managed by Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) reflects the department’s commitment to serve the people.

Since its formation over more than a century ago, JKR or Public Works Department (PWD) Malaysia has touched many aspects of the nation’s life. As the main technical arm of the government, JKR has successfully implemented development projects that include road infrastructure, airports, government buildings and facilities, public amenities as well as maintaining them over time.

Despite the countless success stories by JKR which include the KLIA, the department does experience several setbacks in terms of breakdowns and defects relating to government facilities. These have obviously received adverse public reactions as their safety and convenience are affected.

We have also come under a lot of criticisms from client departments for a “lack of quality” in the delivered products. The latest in a series of unfortunate incidents that tainted JKR’s reputation include the Terengganu stadium roof collapse and burst pipe at the Kompleks Pejabat Kerajaan Persekutuan Sabah in Kota Kinabalu. Fortunately, no life was lost in these mishaps but there was substantial damage to the properties.

There could be a myriad of reasons why such untoward incidents happened. Among them are design faults, inferior quality of materials used, poor supervision, incompetent supervisors, shoddy workmanship, negligent personnel, and lack of maintenance — most of them are project management issues.

Recognising the implication of poorly managed projects on public safety, convenience, maintenance needs, and last but not least, JKR’s reputation, the department placed much focus on improving service delivery.

Top in the department’s agenda now is the highest quality of delivery, delivery on time and value for money. The fact that JKR’s customers are essentially government ministries and departments serving the public, call for the highest attention to quality of service rendered.

Our customer satisfaction journey begins with our due engagement from the onset of a project right to the very end to meet all due expectations. The satisfaction of the public, the ultimate users of public facilities remains our main concern.

Public grievances and complaints on the department’s services are now seriously addressed. The department has established a one-stop centre to receive public feedback which can be forwarded to aduan@jkr.gov.my or SMS at DAPAT (32728).

Public complaints directed at JKR are predominantly on issues of safety and quality of public facilities. Where quality is concerned, independent checks at construction sites are conducted by experts to ensure that there is no compromise on quality.

Completed projects will be issued certificate of completion and accepted for use only if they meet a stringent acceptance criteria. Maintenance contractors of public facilities are expected to meet with their KPIs or else penalty will be imposed.

To ensure that we can deliver as promised, both in project and asset management, we need the right people at the right place. This can be achieved by increasing staff competencies continually.

One of our initiatives to elevate the competencies of JKR professionals in managing projects is by collaborating with an international body (Australian Institute of Project Management), to train and accredit our professionals as Certified Project Managers.

In addition, technical and management training are continuously held throughout the year where all staff are required to undergo at least a total of seven days training annually. The department has also collaborated with local higher learning institutions to produce experts in asset management.

Project delivery on time remains the essence to our delivery with quality. One of the drastic steps taken is to terminate the contract which shows poor performance. There is no more impunity for non-performing contractors.

Escalating cost, high public demand and depleting resources are some of the challenges we now have to face. Resource optimisation and value for money measures are much needed to justify any consideration for project implementation.

We now have to also consider the “whole life cycle cost” in the development of our projects. Projects, which eventually become assets of the government upon their completion, not only have to be well conceived during planning, design and construction but we also consider all the needs and costs of maintaining and operating them over their life cycle.

Projects can no longer be based solely on the most economical capital costs with little attention to the consequential operational and maintenance costs.

The design and construction of projects require thoughtful review and consideration of how they will best function and endure to provide valuable services over many, many years. As such their service delivery potential can be maximised and that risk and maintenance cost are manageable over their entire life.

As an example, if we plan to build a road by cutting down hills, we destroy the environment and over the long run requiring high cost of maintaining the slopes. Alternatively, if we are to consider building a tunnel through the hill, the initial cost will be higher but the maintenance cost over the entire life is much lower and the environment can also be preserved.

Thus, considering total costs over the life cycle of the asset at the early stage, from initial capital, operation and maintenance to disposal, including the cost of delivering services using these assets, there will be great opportunity for cost saving in the long run. This total asset management approach will result in achieving the best value. This will be the way forward.

> Datuk Seri Prof Ir Dr Judin Abdul Karim is the PWD director-general and welcomes any queries and comments at judin@jkr.gov.my

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