KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 19,077 construction companies and those from the industry applied to operate during the Movement Control Order (MCO), Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said.
However, he said, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s (Miti) rejected 7,387 of the applications and only allowed 1,856 to operate.
He said those given the approval were told to strictly adhere to the rules that had been placed.
He said they were also warned against exploiting the situation following the government’s decision to allow several pockets of the construction industry to resume operations during the MCO.
Fadillah said the Works Ministry along with the Local Government and Housing Ministry, Malaysian Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDB), the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), Public Works Department (JKR), and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) would be monitoring the situation and act as enforcement authorities to ensure everyone toes the line.
"Any construction company found to have breached any of the rules will be blacklisted and even charged in court for violating the MCO," he said.
Fadillah said small construction companies under the G1 and G2 category were among those prioritised to resume operations during the MCO.
The G1 and G2 category contractors include those whose projects are below RM200,000 and those not exceeding RM500,000 respectively.
He explained that 13 categories of projects had been allowed to resume, namely those which did not require many workers on site, maintenance and construction works that had achieved 90 percent physical progress and critical works to ensure the safety of construction structures like slope works, tunnels, bridges and viaducts, and land surveys.
Fadillah said that all professional services related to construction and project management,including approving payments for construction work in progress will also be allowed to return to work.
He said contractors must make sure they minimise the number of workers on site by at least half of what they originally had.
"Companies must also provide their workers the basics, such as clean workers' quarters and transportation to and from the work site, monitor their movement and regulate good hygiene practices and social distancing among the workers, as a precautionary measure against Covid-19," he said.