PETALING JAYA: Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) has expressed shock over the existence of a "project tender cartel" which had supposedly monopolised projects linked to ministries and government agencies since 2014.
MBAM president Tan Sri Sufri Mohd Zin said the association only learnt of the existence of the cartel via news reports following a series of arrests of the cartel's mastermind and members by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
"To be honest, if there were no arrests made, we wouldn't even know about this issue. Now we'll just have to see what the attorney-general will do, whether such activities are accepted or indeed illegal, we don't know.
"Sometimes in other parts of the world, doing business along such lines is about how smart one acts within the confines of the law, but where our laws are concerned, we cannot say otherwise," he said.
He said the association will wait for the outcome of the investigation before commenting further.
However, Sufri said the revelation was an eye-opener and something of which that the government has to take note.
"The government has to be more careful, be more selective, and stringent conditions and rules must be applied to prevent such issues from happening again.
"We welcome what the government decides. Hopefully, it will deter those with bad and ill intentions as it will help the rest of us," he said.
Sufri was speaking at MBAM's 19th edition of their annual two-day Safety and Health Conference here today.
In attendance was Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who was conferred the MBAM Golden Helmet Award 2021 for his contributions to the construction industry, and for putting safety first in his leadership.
Also present was Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) director-general, Zailee Dollah.
Zailee said, in light of recent developments concerning the construction industry, he noted that DOSH has embraced the use of modern technology such as drones and body cameras in ensuring a safer working environment at construction sites.
He said that at departmental level, DOSH has used drones over the last few years to inspect construction sites, especially high-rise developments.
DOSH, he said, is also in the process of procuring state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) equipment and tools to help it carry out its tasks more efficiently.
"We have also provided some of our officers and personnel with body cameras as a means to improve the level of integrity and also record observations during inspections for a more informed point of reference for further action later on," he said.
Zailee said that in 2017, DOSH introduced the Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry Management (OSHCIM) approach, in which safety aspects fall not solely on the contractor but also developers, clients, architects and contractors.
This, he said, ensures a shared responsibility from the pre-construction and design stages itself to ensure that construction goes on smoothly, projects are finished on time and there are no incidents or accidents.
Zailee said OSHCIM is in the final stage of review with the Attorney General's chambers.
The department, he said, is also in the midst of finalising the industry's core practices which explains to those the construction industry the implementation of the rules regarding OSHCIM once fully implemented.