Bumiputera contractors who won contracts from Uda Holdings Bhd have caused many problems for the agency, including RM41 million in late penalties, said its new chairperson Johari Abdul Ghani.

He said that these contractors were awarded the jobs based on their on-paper qualifications, but it was found they subcontracted the work to shoddy contractors, leading to delayed projects.

“We see that many Uda projects are delayed because we gave opportunities to bumiputeras, but some of them are not doing their work even though they have an okay track record.

“In the end, we find that it’s because they subcontracted most of their previous work to non-bumiputeras, and they learnt nothing from it.

“And when they learnt nothing, it becomes a problem, as they aren’t able to complete the (Uda) project and we have to come in to provide a solution.

NONE“For the past five years, we have paid buyers late penalties amounting to close to RM41 million,” Johari (right) said in an intervew with Utusan Malaysia.

Johari, a corporate figure and first-term MP, said that he is hoping to change this culture and to stop bumiputera contractors from “abusing” the opportunities given to them.

He said he realises that that not many bumiputera contractors can do the bigger jobs alone, and Uda is open to contracts where genuine partnerships are forged between bumiputera and non-bumiputera contractors.

“But we need to find Malays with calibre so that they can learn the skills in construction...“We have Malay contractors, but they are small-scale.

“When it comes to 40-50 floors, they are dumbfounded. They can’t do the piling, for example, so they have to get a non-bumiputera to do it,” the Titiwangsa MP said.

He said while there are bumiputera developers like MK Land and Naza, they are not interested in being contractors and would rather concentrate on property development.

One of Uda Holdings’ objective is to develop bumiputera entrepreneurship.

The previous chairperson, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, is now Public Accounts Committee chairperson and Pulai MP.