‘Look into material cost, labour shortage’

Construction activities are starting to pick up again after experiencing a slowdown in the past two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Johor Master Builders Association president Tee See Kim said this was a good indicator as the construction sector was one of the main contributors to the country’s economy.

However, he said, the sector was currently facing two major problems that need to be addressed immediately or contractors might face hardship.

“We are facing a shortage of labour and escalating prices of building materials and we are appealing to the government to look into these matters,” Tee said when contacted.

He pointed out that labour shortage was a serious problem as contractors would not be able to complete their jobs or projects.

Tee said this would have serious implications not only on the economy but also to consumers or end-users such as house buyers, who would have to wait longer for their houses to be completed.

“Delays in completing government projects such as roads, hospitals and schools will also cause inconveniences to the people,” he added.

Tee hoped that the government could consider allowing the construction industry to employ Indonesians.

He said Indonesians were still the best workers for construction activities because of the similarities between the Malaysian and Indonesian languages.

“They are hardworking and easy to train and work with, especially those with experience,’’ he added.

Tee said while it was no longer cheaper to hire them as their daily salary ranged between RM80 and RM100, depending on their skills and experiences, “construction companies do not have much of a choice”.

Another issue which needed government intervention, he added, was the escalating prices of building materials especially steel.

“Prices of building materials have increased from 20% to 50% in recent years,” he explained.

Tee said steel prices had risen from RM3,000 per tonne to between RM3,200 and RM3,300, because of the transportation cost from China to Malaysia.

“China is the factory of the world and everybody buys steel from the country – and this is causing the prices to go up,’’ he elaborated.

He said Malaysia used to buy steel from South Korea and Turkey but it was no longer economical because of logistics issues and the distance involved in transporting the material from those countries to Malaysia.

“Previously, we had a steel producer in Kuantan, but it had ceased operations and now, it is a trading house that buys material from China as it can no longer compete with Chinese steel producers,” said Tee.

He said on the other hand, local cement producers gave discounts between RM5 and RM6 for a 50kg bag of cement costing RM19.

“The discount offered was in the last two years when there was not much construction activity, but the discount no longer applies as construction activities are slowly picking up,’’ added Tee.