THE construction sector had incurred losses of up to RM42 billion since the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic in March 2020, Works Minister Fadillah Yusof said today.
 
He said that because of the epidemic, the construction sector saw a rate of decline of 19.4% in 2020, dropping further to 10.4% in the first quarter of 2021.
 
Fadillah, however, said that it had increased to 40.3% in the second quarter of this year.
 
“From the total amount of RM42 billion losses incurred, RM24 billion was from March to July 2020.
 
“The remaining RM18 billion was incurred from June 1 to September this year,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
 
He was replying to Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Jerantut-BN) who asked about the challenges and the way the ministry would assist the construction sector during the epidemic.
 
Fadillah said the ministry together with the Construction Industry Development Board and other agencies held meetings to address the challenges in this sector and find solutions.
 
He said that among the challenges were the increase in the cost of building materials and wage increase for workers especially those who were fully vaccinated.
 
“We are also facing the issue of foreign workers who have returned to their country and cannot come back.”
 
Fadillah added that the other challenges included providing accommodation for owners under the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) and the cost involved in following all the standard operating procedure to be borne by the contractors. – September 30, 2021.