KUALA LUMPUR: The nation's construction industry suffered losses amounting to RM42bil since the start of the pandemic last year, says Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

       "The Covid-19 pandemic and the movement control order had affected the industry with growth shrinking by 19% last year and 10.4% in the first quarter of this year.

       "The figure rose to 40.3% in the second quarter of this year," the Senior Minister said in reply to a question from Datuk Ahmad Nazlan Idris (BN-Jerantut) in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Sept 30).

       Fadillah said this led to the industry suffering losses amounting to RM42bil since March last year.

       "Of this amount, the industry lost RM18bil during the third MCO period between June and September this year," he said, adding that most of the remaining RM24bil was lost in the first MCO period from March to July last year.

       He said his ministry has held several engagement sessions with industry stakeholders to identify the factors leading to these losses.

       Among the factors were a rise in labour costs, the cost of building materials, labour shortage, strict enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOP), and workers' housing, he added.

       To minimise the impact on contractors, Fadillah said the ministry had proposed to the Finance Ministry to reinstate a price variation clause for specific items in contracts for government projects.

       This would help shield builders from sharp spikes in the cost of construction materials.

       Fadillah said another initiative was the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (CIVac) to ensure that work could go on at building sites.

       He also said contractors on government projects were also allowed to include the cost of SOP compliance as part of preliminary work.

       Fadillah noted that a RM400,000 fund had been set up for G1 to G4 contractors involved with road maintenance work to help ease their burden.

       He added that workers sent for training organised by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will not be charged course fees.

       He said a 50% discount is also given to employers for their foreign workers' Construction Personnel Card (green card) applications.