KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 416 construction sites have been ordered to cease operations since June due to failure to comply with Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP), says Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup.

       The Deputy Works Minister said the 416 were detected in SOP compliance checks conducted by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) till Sunday (Sept 26) across 10,087 construction sites.

       Arthur said it was found that 4,770 construction sites were not operating while 5,317 were operating.

       Out of the 416 construction sites that were ordered to shut, 232 were allowed to resume operations after they were found to be in compliance with Covid-19 SOPs, he added.

       "The authority to declare an area as an active cluster that isn't allowed to operate lies with the Health Ministry.

       "But CIDB has powers under the CIDB Act 1994 (Act 520) to issue penalties if a construction site does not abide by SOPs," he said in Parliament on Monday (Sept 27) in response to Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (PN-Tumpat), who asked what actions were taken against errant employers who refuse to abide by SOPs.

       Arthur said compliance checks will always be conducted in order to ensure that SOPs are maintained at all times in order to keep Covid-19 at bay.

       Meanwhile, he said, a total of 99,767 construction workers have been fully vaccinated under the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (Civac) and 102,802 have received a single dose.

       Those who were fully vaccinated consist of 43,269 Malaysians and 56,498 foreign workers, while those who have received one dose of vaccine comprise 44,534 Malaysians and 58,268 foreign workers.

       "This data does not include the number of construction workers vaccinated under other programmes such as the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme and others under different ministries," he added.