Construction Firms Need To Adopt Technology, Mechanisation, Says MBAM

By S. Joan Santani and Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- Construction companies need to find ways to reduce their dependence on foreign workers by adopting technology and mechanisation such as the industrialised building system, the Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) said. "We have to work two ways. We cannot deny that there is a shortage of foreign labour, particularly low-skilled workers, but we can reduce it by improving our construction techniques through mechanisation or other efficient methods," its President, Foo Chek Lee told Bernama. He said however, construction industry players found it difficult to adopt the change as heavy lifting equipment was highly taxed, as much as 30 per cent, higher than those of other countries. "By reducing the taxes for lifting equipment such as crane and related equipment on this technology, we believe costs can be alleviated, and the dependency on foreign workers will be reduced, hence rising productivity," he said. Against this backdrop, Foo said the association hoped that the government could simplify the process of legalising foreign workers. "If the processes can be simplified, it can help our projects to run smoothly as most of the illegal workers already have the experience needed on the construction site. "We cannot afford to wait for the long processes. Even if we could hire Malaysians, we still run out of workers. "If you were to calculate, with our population of 31.7 million and an unemployment rate at 3.4 per cent, or about one million people, we need about 1.3 million workers for the industry," he added. Having highlighted the urgency to legalise foreign workers to the Home Ministry and Works Ministry, he said the MBAM hoped they would bring up the matter to the relevant authorities. On maintenance cost, Foo said the budget allocated for maintenance of facilities cannot be compromised as it would public safety at risk, instead it should be given priority no matter how big or small the projects were. "Safety is always a profit and preventing an accident is better than losing out on hospital expenses and this may create a cascading effect as projects might be halted due to lack of manpower. "We do not want to be judged as the first-class contractors, with a third-class maintenance, don't we?" he said. Last year, there were 140 cases of fatalities reported at construction sites. Foo said the MBAM was working with the Construction Industry Development Board towards reducing accidents along with other construction players through on-going trainings and seminars. -- BERNAMA