PETALING JAYA: The most delayed (sick) government development project in Malaysia is the “Program Perumahan Rakyat Seduan” in Sibu, Sarawak, having been in limbo for 1,120 days and counting as of Dec 31, 2023.
According to the Auditor-General’s Report Series 3, the cause has been attributed to the contractor’s management and financial issues as well as the unresolved transfer of private land ownership to the Federal Government.
Based on a response from the Housing and Local Government Ministry in the report, the contractor in charge had been terminated earlier in April this year.
“Payments to private landowners are expected to be completed through a lawyer by November 2024 after approval is obtained from the Finance Ministry,” the report stated, noting that the project’s original cost was RM99.17mil.
Four of the other most delayed projects are from Sabah which included the construction of the Jalan Libaran Bypass in Sandakan, Sabah; Renovations to Hospital Beaufort, Sabah; construction of Taman Industri Kecil dan Sederhana SEDCO in Sepanggar, Sabah; and Program Perumahan Rakyat Jalan Tungku in Lahad Datu, Sabah.
These projects have been delayed by 1,021 days, 952 days, 678 days and 670 days respectively.
The Jalan Libaran Bypass project in particular has faced delays due to a collapse of the bridge in June 2020 while it was under construction.
These projects are among the 202 projects from 19 ministries that have been deemed as behind schedule (sick) in the report.
”Sick” projects under each of the ministries include the Education Ministry (72), Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry (24), Rural Development Ministry (22) and Health Ministry (18).
Both the Works Ministry, and Housing and Local Government Ministry have 12 sick projects each with the Youth and Sports Ministry having seven such projects.
The Transport Ministry, Defence Ministry and Higher Education Ministry have five ‘sick’ projects while the Prime Minister's Department has four such projects.
The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry; Economy Ministry; Human Resources Ministry; and the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry also have three ‘sick’ projects each.
The remaining ‘sick’ projects come from the Home Ministry; Communications and Digital Ministry; Foreign Ministry; and National Unity Ministry with one each.
