State govt channels machinery, equipment to PKMM S’wak to help local Bumiputera contractors

KUCHING (March 2): Local Bumiputera contractors in Sarawak are set to benefit from machinery and equipment provided by the state government to the Malaysian Malay Contractors Association (PKMM) Sarawak branch.

Its president Dato Ismail Suut said the initiative reflected the Sarawak government’s continued commitment under the leadership of Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg in strengthening the capacity and capabilities of local contractors to enable them to be more competitive and undertake construction projects more efficiently.

“We record our highest appreciation to the Sarawak government for awarding machinery and equipment to the association for use by members in completing the construction projects they have secured.

“This facility allows members to reduce dependence on rentals from third parties, while improving efficiency and the quality of project implementation,” he said, according to the Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas).

He said this after paying a courtesy call on Abang Johari at Satria Pertiwi Complex here yesterday.

Ismail, who is also PKMM Malaysia vice president, said the courtesy call also aimed to strengthen strategic ties between PKMM and the Sarawak government as well as to discuss the direction of the construction industry in Sarawak.

He added that discussions during the meeting also touched on the proposal to build a new association building at Jalan Sultan Tengah, which is expected to be implemented in the near future, subject to state government approval.

Also present were PKMM Sarawak advisor Dato Dr Zaiedi Suhaili, Construction Research Institute of Malaysia chairman Dato Alhadi Ibrahim, Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) senior general manager Suhaimi Mansor, CIDB Sarawak director Rosmen AG Hassan, and Akademi Binaan Malaysia (ABM) Sarawak Region chief executive officer Abdul Rahman Ahmad.