Deputy minister calls for urgent talks to expedite planning and design phases of government projects to prevent nationwide delays

PONTIAN: The Works Ministry has called for urgent discussions among all relevant ministries and departments to accelerate the pre-construction phase of government projects nationwide.

Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Maslan said 1,249 projects are currently stuck in this preliminary stage, which includes planning, design, and procurement.

“Pre-construction means no physical work has begun on site, no contractor has been appointed and no Letter of Acceptance has been issued,” he explained.

He detailed that 855 projects are in planning, 93 are in design, and 229 are in the procurement phase.

Ahmad stressed that delays are not exclusive to the construction stage, with many projects facing bottlenecks during pre-construction processes like Value Assessment and Engineering.

“This situation cannot be allowed to continue because the people are waiting for essential facilities such as hospitals, schools and basic infrastructure to be completed,” he said.

He added that if the pre-construction phase is delayed, the subsequent construction will inevitably be pushed back.

The deputy minister revealed there are currently 855 cross-ministerial projects under active construction.

Of these, 255 are ahead of schedule, 273 are on schedule, and 289 are behind schedule, with 35 classified as critical or sick projects.

 The Sun Malaysia