BY PRIYA MENON

Traders at the market in Section 5, Taman Sri Muda have been waiting for years for the new market to be built and they may get their wish granted by next year.

THE Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) is mulling the idea of introducing tighter criteria for contractors to prevent delays in building projects.

Shah Alam mayor Datuk Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad said the council was looking at a new system to ensure that the cream of the crop are picked in the tender process.

He said the process might be similar to the recent domestic waste collectors appointment exercise.

The domestic waste collectors were selected based on a point system instead of the highly debated lowest-cost tender system.

As per the new system, each contractor was given points based on several key indicators including manpower, equipment, number of compactors and experience.

“Although we received numerous complaints because of the tighter criteria in the new system for waste collectors, we insisted on it because we wanted quality above all,” he added during an interview with StarMetro.

At present, there are four projects under MBSA’s purview that have been delayed and two have already been reissued tender.

The two projects are the much-awaited Section 17 bus hub and the bus station in Section 19, work on which will begin as soon as the award letters have been sent out.

Another delayed project is the new market in Section 5, Taman Sri Muda, but Ahmad Zaharin said MBSA had issued a final warning to the contractor to speed up work or face termination.

The new market, he hoped, would be ready by the end of this year or by 2017 at the latest.

When asked if the cause of the delays was the lowest-cost tender system, the mayor denied it, saying it was the contractors’ attitude and work ethics.

MBSA councillor Fong Saik Hoong said the move would be good for the council since it was their reputation on the line.

He said he had suggested to the mayor a few weeks ago to call for fresh tender bids for all delayed projects, to help complete the pending public facilities.

Fong, who is part of MBSA’s Building Committee, believes most of the contractors are lackadaisical about projects since they earn money through the preliminary contract.

The preliminary contract, he explained, enabled the contractors to claim money for the initial ground work, including mobilising machinery and onsite preparation.

“They can make a lot of money this way and by scrutinising the upcoming contractors, we can ensure projects are delivered on time,” he said.

He added that the tender board should limit the preliminary contract claims to between eight and 10% depending on the total contract sum to avoid“overclaim”.