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Monday August 28, 2006

Class F contractors to get 10% of jobs

By CHRISTINA KOH

SUNGAI SIPUT: Starting next year, the Government will award 10% of all building and infrastructure works to bumiputra Class F contractors.

Samy Vellu: ‘Only for those with accreditation’
Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the jobs, not exceeding RM200,000 each, would include the building of drains, playgrounds, fences, pump houses, canteens, guardhouses and walls; the fastening of tiles, roofs and pipes, and landscaping and turf works.

“If a project is worth RM100mil, RM10mil would go to the bumiputra Class F contractors,” he told reporters here on Saturday after launching a campaign to fly the Jalur Gemilang.

There are 36,000 Class F contractors, of whom only 7,000 are active. Bumiputras make up 90% of the total number of Class F contractors.

However, Samy Vellu said the Government would only award the jobs to those who passed the course under the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) accreditation programme.

The programme, to be kicked off next year, is aimed at increasing professionalism and specialisation.

The accreditation programme would also allow the CIDB to gauge the experience and skills of each contractor and the jobs they undertook, he said.

So far, CIDB has only classified Class F contractors as active or non-active.

Samy Vellu said the CIDB was also studying the possibility of requiring all registered contractors to have at least one area of specialisation instead of a general qualification.

Therefore, he said, such contractors would have to undergo the accreditation programme to be specialised in a particular field.

“Once contractors have their accreditation, they will be recognised as an accredited contractor and be given priority in the awarding of tenders.”

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