Minister of Works Datuk Fadillah Yusof said in the first half of this year the construction industry showed positive results, posting a stronger growth of 14.3 per cent against 12 per cent in the same period last year.
“The construction industry will continue to be one of the prime movers of the Malaysian economy.
“The total growth of construction last year was almost 12 per cent. Our projection this year is not less than 10 per cent,” he told reporters after opening the International Construction Week (ICW) 2014 here Thursday.
Earlier in his speech, Fadillah urged construction industry players not to limit their discourse to how to get a facility built.
“Instead, they must think about how to get something built, taking into account the cultural economic, environment, social and technical perspectives,” he said.
Fadillah also reminded industry players to take into consideration the financial sustainability of a building and infrastructure that they are building.
“We must design and construct a building taking into account cost efficiency in operations and maintenance during its whole lifecycle,” he added.
Meanwhile, Fadillah expressed hope that all seven highway construction projects earmarked under the 10th Malaysia Plan including the West Coast Expressway (WCE), with an estimated total cost of RM20 billion, would commence by next year.
He said currently the projects are undergoing the certification approval phases from related bodies like the state authorities and residents.
“For the WCE, which links Banting (Selangor) dan Taiping (Perak), the Perak (approvals) are more or less cleared while for Selangor (authorities), after the public consultations, there will be a bit of an adjustment,” he said.
Themed ‘Building a Better Tomorrow’, ICW 2014 will be held for seven days starting today, and is organised by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia.
The event features 300 exhibitors from 24 countries, including the United Kingdom, China and Singapore, with the Malaysian Construction Summit and Malaysian Construction Industry Excellence Awards as key highlights.
— BERNAMA
