Kingfisher Park bridge over budget

AG says work unsatisfactory as government has incurred additional costs for construction

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Public Works Department (PWD) has to fork out an additional sum of RM2.82 million as costs for the construction of a bridge to the Women and Children Hospital at Kingfisher Park here, according to Auditor-General Report 2013 tabled in Parliament this week.

The additional costs consist of RM0.18 million incurred for the variation work order and RM2.64 million for contracts for emergency works. Auditor-General Ambrin Buang said that in the audit opinion, the construction of the bridge is less satisfactory as the government would have to incur additional costs.

Based on the audit of the final payment voucher dated 26 September 2013, a total of RM6.79 million was paid to the contractor with the work progress was 92%. As of October 2013, this project had not been completed. The project was undertaken by a local contractor with the cost of RM9.77 million.

According to the contract , the project should be completed within a period of 18 months starting from August 2, 2010 to February 1, 2011. The Public Works Department has appointed a consultants company to oversee the construction of the bridge.

Ambrin said an audit review found three Extensions Of Time (EOT) or a total of 639 days approved for the period February 2, 2011 to Oct 31, 2013. The first EOT was approved by 192 days, the second extension was for 269 days and the third extension, 178 days.

According to the feedback from PWD received on Feb 4, 2014, the delays were caused by the damage to the nearby first bridge arising from the construction of the second bridge. Construction work on the second bridge was temporary stopped while the contractor was doing repairing work to the damage on the first bridge.

The PWD was forced to use emergency fund to finance the additional costs of repairing the damage, in addition to strengthening the first bridge. The delay was also blamed on bad weather and the transfer of electricity cables by the SESB.

The bridge to the Women and Children Hospital is needed as the first bridge is unable to cope with the increasing traffic flows. According to a traffic census carried out by PWD in 2011, more than 6,000 vehicles were using the Kingfisher roundabout, the first Kingfisher bridge and the Universiti Malaysia Sabah-Sulaman road during peak hours.

In a period of 12 hours, between 40,000 and 50,000 vehicles were recorded plying the routes. Meanwhile, Ambrin said that Sabah PWD received a total allocation of RM336.61 million for the construction of 44 bridges in the 9th Malaysian Plan and RM235.67 million for the construction of 18 bridges in 10th Malaysian Plan.

An audit conducted from July to Oct, 2013 revealed that overall the bridge construction projects were satisfactory. However, several weaknesses were identified, such as delay in project completion, land ownership problem and delay in project execution.

Borneo Insider