Several Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers were irked by the government's sidelining of local expertise despite their skills in favour of foreign experts.

These 'engineer' parliamentarians urged the government to recognise the expertise of local professionals and called on the leaders to end the perceived preferential treatement meted to foreign consultants for large projects.

In his speech on Wednesday during the debates on premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's Budget 2005, Hasni Mohammad (Pontian-BN) said Malaysian professionals had the potential and ability to compete both on the domestic and international stages.

Abdullah in his presentation last Friday said the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) would hold equity in the Professional Services Development Center (PSDC), while both would coordinate to promote local contractors and professionals in the foreign market.

Costly expenditure

"Stop appointing foreign experts to carry out development works," Hasni urged the government.

Formerly an engineer by profession, he said although the prime minister was seeking to promote the country's professional expertise abroad through the the PSDC and CIDB, negative perception towards local professionals resulted in their marginalization from the big projects.

As an example, a foreign company was appointed as the consultant for an irrigation project in Sungei Besi, Selangor, said Hasni.

However, local contractors were in turn hired by the foreign company in order to carry out the consultation and irrigation works, he added.

He said if this was the pattern for large projects, a lot of money was being wasted paying for foreign services that were available within the country.

"The government reveals to us that RM11.3 billion went out of the country (to expatriates). Three percent of that consisted of professional services, which means that nearly RM85 million was spent which shouldn't have been spent because we possess the expertise," Hasni claimed.

"We are not building a rocket-launching pad. We are simply building an irrigation and drainage system," he said.

Erroneous decisions

Commenting on the same issue, BN's Ledang MP Hamim Samuri suggested that the poor regard with which the views of local professionals were treated may result in erroneous decisions by government authorities that were based on considerations other than safety and long-term expenses.

Taking the example of the Ayer Hitam-Batu Pahat highway, the insistence by Public Works Department experts on barriers to divide the four lanes fell on deaf ears on the part of the governing authorities, said Hamim.

"One authority, pleased that he was the one to approve the project and obtain the budget, ultimately rejected the experts' view that a barrier was needed. In the end, many accidents occurred there"

"This is a waste, this is dangerous," he said.

Backbencher Dr Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam-BN) said the government's imposition of a 0.25 percent charge on the all contractors' construction agreements as a contribution to CIDB was akin to "biting the hands that feed" as CIDB Holdings was itself competing in the construction industry.

"Other than CIDB's efforts to export professional services, CIDB is also involved in the construction works within the country.This should not happen," he added.