Contractor’s poor performance causes delay in WCE work

NST By Zahratulhayat Mat Arif – August 26, 2021

Zolkafly said the percentage of actual progress of construction work in Section 11 for the period ending July 25, this year was 51.55 per cent compared to the expected schedule of 99.30 per cent. – NSTP/ABDULLAH YUSOF

The main cause of the delay in the construction of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) involving Section 11 in Trong, is due to poor performance of the main contractor.

Perak Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transport Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Zolkafly Harun said this was confirmed by the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM).

Mohd Zolkafly said to address the matter, the concessionaire WCE Sdn Bhd through EPC contractor took over the construction to complete the remaining work.

“The state government has also been briefed on this and the LLM has committed to complete the remaining work on this project, which is another 48 per cent according to the new timeline, and is expected to be completed in Jan, 2024,” he said.

The Lintang assemblyman was replying to a question from Jamilah Zakaria (BN-Trong) at the state legislative assembly sitting in Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan here, today.

Zolkafly said the WCE section which passes through the Trong constituency involves Section 11 which starts from Beruas junction to Taiping (south junction) measuring 35.5 km.

He said the percentage of actual progress of construction work in Section 11 for the period ending July 25, this year was 51.55 per cent compared to the expected schedule of 99.30 per cent.

“The construction work carried out are earthworks, rock blasting, construction of structures and bridges, drainage, slopes and others.

“Although the construction work is allowed to continue, there are major constraints on the supply of building materials following the implementation of the Movement Control Order and Enhanced Movement Control Order,” he said.