Private sector developed 91% of Johor projects last year

JOHOR BARU: About 91% of the projects developed in Johor last year, worth RM22.7 billion, were carried out by the private sector while the rest were government projects, said State Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Datuk Hasni Mohamad.

On realising this, he said the committee had decided to establish a Contractors' Capacity Development Centre to expose and prepare contractors for the mega projects in the state.

He said the establishment of the centre, already announced in the 2017 Johor Budget was to focus on capacity building efforts and environmental business opportunities through the Contractor Development Master Plan.

"As mentioned previously, the Capacity Development Centre project is to meet market demand.

"We also have the Commissioning Programme for Construction Site Supervisors and Quality Enhancement Seminar for Contractors and other programmes to ensure the people of Johor benefit from this project.
"This year alone, nearly RM1.5 million were spent on these programmes and we will continue to work with training institutes to help empower the local people," he said.

Hasni was replying to a supplementary question from Dr Boo Cheng Hau (DAP-Skudai) in the state assembly sitting, here today.

Dr Boo wanted to know if the state government or Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia (CIDB) was taking measures to ensure job opportunities were available for the people, including industrial engineering technicians with the project spillovers in the state. — Bernama