Appointed contractor faces over RM1Mil in fines for failure of completion
Exco Liow Cai Tung, Tourism and Women, Family and Community Development visited the Sungai Plentong bridge and had a briefing session together with Solihan Badri, Exco of Public Works, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Public Works Department and Contractors to observe the progress of Sungai Plentong river replacement project at Jalan Masai Lama, Johor Bahru.
Since its inception on 10th October 2016 where it was first expected to conclude by 25th February 2018, it got extended until August 2018 and contractor Ikatan Harmoni Sdn Bhd has failed to complete the project to date.
The said contractor was fined for LAD (Liquidated and Ascertained Damages) amounting to RM5,324 per day from the postponed project as it has caused heavy traffic and discomfort among road users.
Up until 26th May 2019, the project was delayed for 282 days and the total amount of LAD imposed on the contractor is RM1,501,368.00. Final warning was issued to the contractor to complete the project as soon as possible with no further delays.
The contractor also needs to attend to any pothole complaints urgently within one day. Should this not be fulfilled, JKR would elect a third party to do the work and Ikatan Harmoni Sdn Bhd would bear all the costs. They were also told to install temporary road lights for the safety and comfort of road users seeing a lot of complaints from locals has been about how dark the road is in that area.
“I’d like to emphasise and reiterate again, that the contractor should execute its responsibility in completing the Sungai Plentong bridge project in the near future and to always prioritise the safety of the road users,” said Liow.
Liow is looking at putting the said contractor in blacklist from getting any government projects in the future to avoid similar problems to repeat again.
