Only 5% of govt projects categorised as ‘sick’, says Ahmad Maslan

TAIPING (May 19): Only 44 projects or 5.2% of the total 851 government projects currently under construction are categorised as sick projects, said Deputy Minister of Works Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Maslan.

He said that of the total, the majority of delays were due to weaknesses of contractors, particularly in terms of scheduling, planning and cash flow.

“Of the 851 ongoing projects, 241 projects or 28% are at the early stages of the schedule while 213 projects or 25% are on schedule. Only 44 projects are sick or 5.2%.

“So I hope that 5.2% of the sick projects can be restored. There are one or two projects that we will terminate and look for a rescue contractor… which we can save by giving an extension of time,” he said.

He said this after visit and monitoring meeting No 2, 2026 of the ministry’s public infrastructure projects at the logistics and sterile pharmacy store building of the Taiping Hospital here on Tuesday.

Ahmad said that among the ministries that recorded the highest number of sick projects were the Ministry of Education with 14 projects, followed by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (eight), Ministry of Home Affairs (five) and Ministry of Defence (four).

Meanwhile, he said that the total value of the 851 projects currently under construction was RM49.5 billion, while 351 projects worth RM15.48 billion had been completed and are now in the defect liability period (DLP).

“For those under construction, I hope that the Public Works Department (JKR), especially the SO (superintendent officer) or officers are closely monitoring everything.

“For example, there is one project that was categorised as a sick project only due to the issue of the relocation of six electricity poles owned by Sabah Electricity. After the relocation work was completed, the project was no longer in the sick project category and the situation was not as serious as expected,” he said.

He said the really serious projects are about eight projects that are expected to require contract termination before being replaced with new contractors to ensure implementation could continue.

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