Construction industry’s dilemma - Covid-19

Although the construction sector contracted a lot more during the 1985 and 1998 recessions, this time, however, we are seeing no work at all. It is a different dynamic and we are in uncharted territory, says Param Sivalingam, former project director for the Klang Valley MRT Serdang-Sungai Buloh line.Construction project

AFTER the Pakatan Harapan government was installed in 2018, many contractors and their supply chain suffered severe cashflow disruption and had to incur bank borrowings in order to keep the projects afloat due to the restructuring exercise.

New projects were also deferred. The annual turnover for the industry has been declining from a peak of RM273bil in 2016 to RM106bil in 2018, representing a 60% decline.