‘Reopening of borders to boost revival of construction industry’
The reopening of international borders this April 1 is expected to boost the revival of the construction industry in Sarawak, says Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development I Aidel Lariwoo.
He foresees an influx of foreign labourers coming in once the borders reopen, which should boost economic activities.
“Sarawak has a lot of big projects, including the construction of bridges and roads, which require huge amount of manpower and with the international borders reopening, we expect to see an influx of labourers who will help rejuvenate the economic activities,” he told reporters when met during his site visit to Batang Igan bridge project in Mukah yesterday.
Aidel said these ‘big projects’ had been affected since the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO), which effectively banned foreign workers from entering Malaysia.
He said as a result, the construction of some projects was affected due to manpower shortage.
He expressed confidence that with the reopening of the borders, all the plans and projects under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) would be implemented by 2030.
On March 8, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the country would reopen its borders this April 1 and foreign travellers with recognised travel documents could enter Malaysia freely without having to apply for the MyTravel Pass, which would be abolished.
He said all they needed to do would be to fill in the pre-departure form on the MySejahtera app.
Foreign travellers who had received two doses of the Covid19 vaccine would not be required to undergo quarantine upon arrival in the country.
They would only need to do a RT-PCR test two days before travelling to Malaysia, followed by a professionally administered RTK-Antigen (professional) test within 24 hours of their arrival in the country.
On March 25, Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said Sarawak was ready to welcome back foreign visitors this April 1, two years after closing its borders to international arrivals due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also said with the reopening of the borders between Sarawak and Brunei and Sarawak with Indonesia, he believed that the economic activities would slowly come back.
Sarawak has a lot of big projects, including the construction of bridges and roads, which require huge amount of manpower and with the international borders reopening, we expect to see an influx of labourers who will help rejuvenate the economic activities.
Aidel Lariwoo