Fit to be occupied at last

2 ‘sick’ school projects rescued from delays in completion; new classrooms await pupils, teachers next year

KUCHING: Pupils and teachers of two primary schools — SK Menuang, Limbang and SK Limbang in Limbang — are looking forward to begin the new term next year in new classrooms and enjoy new facilities.

The buildings of the two schools have finally been certified fit for occupation by the local council after delays in the completion of the projects.

The contractor of the project Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd (Naim) disclosed that SK Menuang was completed on Sept 30, 2013 and SK Limbang was completed on Nov 28, 2013, earlier than its committed date of Dec 31, 2013.

Naim’s senior project manager Willie Sang added that both schools were inspected for certificate of practical completion (CPC) by the client and consultants on Nov 28, 2013.

“With this CPC joint inspection, both schools are fit to be occupied. The occupation permits (OPs) have also been issued by the local council,” Sang told The Borneo Post here yesterday.

He also disclosed that both projects were actually ‘rescued’ school projects.

“These ‘rescued’ school projects were part of the works package allocated to another company which is Naim’s joint-venture partner for the contract.

“Under the joint works package awarded by the client, Naim was allocated eight schools projects, while the other company was allocated five.

“While we have completed the schools under our scope as scheduled, our partner company has performance-related issues in relation to these schools. As such these two schools were categorised as ‘sick projects’,” Sang said.

He said Naim had decided to ‘rescue’ these projects in the interest of the schools and their pupils.

“We took over as lead partner for the projects and took over control of all activities in Feb 2013. And as good corporate citizen, we are duty-bound to deliver all the projects on time, although in certain situations, this can be very challenging,” said Willie.

He disclosed that since Naim took over these projects, all works have been progressing well.

“Since we took over, there was a marked improvement in work progress with the support of our dedicated staff, sub-contractors, consultants and our client. We managed to complete both SK Limbang and SK Menuang much earlier.

He added that the ‘rescue’ mission was not without price as Naim had to put in some RM17 mill to complete these projects.

“As we are ‘rescuing’ the projects from previous party, other challenges include catching up on works, confronting unhappy previous subcontractors, previous debts and liquidated and ascertained damage, which we are trying to manage,” he said.

Willie pointed out that Naim is committed to honour its obligation to the client, where it has established a good track record in successful completion of the award-winning projects such as SMK Merbau, Miri which won the CIDB Malaysia Construction Industry Excellence Award for Medium Scale Building Project in 2003.

It has a strong track record in completing projects on time, on specs and on budget, with some project completed well ahead of schedule.

For the record, Naim has won a total of 15 major awards, a testament to its capability and achievement in the industries which it ventured into.

Meanwhile, when contacted, a spokesman from the relevant implementing and monitoring agency acknowledged the achievement in the school projects ‘rescued’ by Naim.

FROM: Borneo Post Online (11 December 2013)

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/12/11/fit-to-be-occupied-at-last/#ixzz2n9fRSXE9