KOTA KINABALU, May 29 — The Malaysian Construction Academy (ABM) of Sabah is always prepared to turn out more highly skilled manpower in the construction sector, including workers for completing the Pan Borneo Highway project, said Deputy Works Minister Datuk Arthur Kurup.
He said the federal government had given its commitment to ensure the remaining 19 of the 35 work packages in the first phase of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project were completed in five years.
He said ABM, which is an evaluation and training centre under the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), was seen as the best agency to meet the manpower needs to fulfil this commitment.
Apart from boosting state’s communication network and infrastructure, the Pan Borneo Highway of Sabah would also create job opportunities for local contractors and people, he said.
“We need many workers (to complete the project). As such, CIDB, specifically ABM, is the best agency to ensure the people particularly the youths of Sabah are equipped with suitable skills to fill the job opportunities created,” he told reporters here today.
Earlier, Arthur was briefed by Sabah ABM director Tadzul Radim and CIDB senior general manager Naidatul Mazidah Latif, before visiting the temporary complex of Sabah ABM, located in Kampung Kayu Madang, Telipok, near here, in conjunction with the Ministry of Works’ FTRoadpedia Tour Programme.
Arthur said Sabah ABM had trained over 74,000 youths and construction personnel since it was set up in March 2001, with the marketability of its graduates at 90 per cent.
He also wanted the agency to promote its skills courses among youths in the rural and interior areas of Sabah to ensure they also had the opportunity to undergo such training.
Sabah ABM offers 33 high impact skills courses such as installation of scaffolding, crane operation, gas pipe fitting, and technical plan draughtsmanship.
Arthur said Sabah ABM was targeting to increase its training capacity from about 2,000 youths and construction personnel to 10,000 a year through the proposed establishment of a RM80 million permanent campus on a 13.7-hectare site in Kampung Beringgis, Papar.
He said the academy had just received development approval and a RM1 million allocation from the state government to open an access road to facilitate construction of the project, which is expected to be completed in two years. — Bernama
