SARAWAK is suffering from a severe shortage of foreign labour, caused by the land border closure and Covid-19 travel restrictions, which is leading to delays in many state-funded projects, said Deputy Chief Minister James Masing.

Masing, who is also the minister for infrastructure and port development, said some contractors have reported a manpower shortfall of 70%.

“It is a problem. We need a lot of them. But it is also an advantage (because) it helps us to stop the spread of the Covid-19,” Masing said after opening a workshop on administration of contracts for Sarawak government projects in Kuching today.

The shortage might last for a while, he said while assuring contractors they won’t be penalised for delays.

“We are now kinder to the contractors. Better be safe than sorry.”

Sarawak’s labour policy only allows the employment Indonesian workers.

The usual entry points into the state for many of these workers are via border crossings along the 1,000km Sarawak-Kalimantan border, which Sarawak sealed in late March.

The border crossings with Sabah, too, have now been sealed following a spike in Covid-19 cases there.

Earlier, Masing said out of 2,721 state-funded projects approved this year under the 11 Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), to date only seven projects or 0.3% have been completed.

A total of 1,500 projects with a ceiling of RM37.11 billion have been approved for implementation under the 11MP. 

“As at September 30, out of the 954 physical projects, 485 projects or 50.8% has been completed while the remaining 469 projects or 49.2% are in various stages of implementation.”

Masing said he was pleased with the rate of implementation of the projects under the 11MP. – October 13, 2020.