KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): A total of 202 of the federal government’s projects under the 12th Malaysia Plan are deemed ailing projects (projek sakit) as at the end of last year, according to the Auditor General’s Report released on Monday. 

The report stated that a project is categorised as ailing or "sakit" when progress has been delayed by more than two months or 20% beyond the stipulated timeline specified in the contract.

These ailing projects represent 5.93% of the 3,404 projects currently in progress under the 12MP, whereby another 107 projects (3.14%) are behind schedule, 549 (16.13%) are ahead of schedule, 2,305 (67.71%) are on schedule. 

Another 241 (7.08%) projects are deemed to have no progress [tiada kemajuan] due to a lack of data in the government’s MyProjek system.   

The ailing projects fall under the purview of 19 of the government’s 26 ministries.

The bulk or 72 of the ailing projects fall under the Ministry of Education’s purview, followed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (24), Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (22), Ministry of Health (18), Ministry of Works (12), Ministry of Housing and Local Government (12).

The other 13 affected ministries have ailing projects numbering in the single digits. 

To illustrate the severity of delays faced by some of these ailing projects, the report listed five facing the most severe delays — ranging from 670 to 1,120 days. 

The most severe case listed is the Seduan People’s Housing Programme in Sibu, Sarawak which faces a delay of the aforementioned 1,120 days or over three years. 

The project, which comprises the construction of 461 single-storey houses with an initial cost of RM99.17 million, was reported to have undergone a groundbreaking ceremony back in September 2020 

The report said the project’s contractor had since received three extensions cumulatively spanning 303-day extension spanning from Oct 23, 2022, to Aug 21, 2023, with the contractor ultimately being terminated back on April 18, 2024.  

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