‘Opportunities in building sector for those made jobless by Covid-19’

KUALA LUMPUR: The Works Ministry is prepared to train people who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic so that they would have the skills required to work in the construction industry, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.

Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said this would be done under a special programme of the Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia (CIDB) for the reskilling and upskilling of local workers.

“They will be placed at the Malaysian Building Academy (ABM). As of now, they would be placed in the construction sector for three months and so far 289 have been trained and given work placement,” he said during the question-and-answer session.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Robert Lawson Chuat (GPS-Betong), who wanted to know whether the ministry was conducting such training for workers from outside the building industry who had lost their jobs.

Asked on the dependence on foreign workers, Fadillah admitted that the sector, which offers skilled and semi-skilled job opportunities, was short of local workers.

To the original question from Robert on the number of ABM trainees, Fadillah said since its inception in 1997, all the six ABM branches under the supervision of CIDB have trained 146,746 youths and 274,555 construction personnel in various skills.

“The training in the building industry under ABM is one of the government’s initiatives to enhance the skills and marketability of local workers. This is in line with government efforts to reduce dependence on foreign workers,” he added.