KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 ― A road project to solve traffic congestion in Port Dickson took 10 years to build after missed deadlines by its initial contractor, the National Audit Department’s annual audit has showed.

For the project with a ceiling cost of RM160 million for 22.6km of roads, the department found that the contractor had failed to deliver it in two years and six months as initially planned although the contract was signed within the stipulated time and advance payment was made.

“The audit performed between June and September 2015 revealed that the overall project management was unsatisfactory, as the project took 10 years to be completed,” it said in the first series of the Auditor General’s (AG) report for 2015.

According to the report, the project under the Works Ministry and the Public Works Department’s purview started in February 2005 and should have been completed in August 2007.

But appointed contractor Kartajaya-Fort Jeli East-AMR JV Sdn. Bhd.(HBA-JV) only managed to deliver 64.6 per cent of the project by the time their contract was terminated on December 23, 2009, with their performance after reappointment still being unsatisfactory with only an additional progress of 3.6 per cent.

The initial contractor was terminated for a second time on May 9, 2013, while the government’s appointment of a new contractor ― Seroja Anggerik  Development Sdn Bhd ― on March 27, 2014 saw the project finally being completed on December 28, 2015, the report said.

Besides the years of delay and the “unfair” reappointment of the initial contractor that went against the PWD Hospital Project Committee’s decision, the bridge in the project was not built according to construction drawing plans and the relocation of utilities were inefficiently managed, the report said.

Among other things, the report recommended that the PWD closely monitor projects and the work quality of contractors to ensure that the government suffers no losses if a contractor defaults or if a project is terminated.

PWD should also make sure the contractor patches up all road defects before handing it over to the ministry to ensure the safety of road users, it said.

The project involved the upgrading of a road from Pasir Panjang to Linggi in Negri Sembilan and the construction of a new road, with the intention of tackling traffic jams in the Teluk Kemang town in Port Dickson, particularly during festive seasons and school holidays.