Skip to main content

More work for Malaysia’s ethnic contractors

The bumiputera, or bumiputra, contractors will be offered more contracts in Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan and Peninsular Malaysia after years of delayed projects.
By David Arminas May 31, 2024 Read time: 1 min
A boost for the bumiputeras (image © Aisyaqilumar/Dreamstime)

Around US$67.6 million has been set aside by the government of Malaysia to award small-scale Bumiputera contractors with federal road maintenance projects in 2024.

Bumiputera or bumiputra is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia and various indigenous peoples of Eastern Malaysia.

According to a report in the New Straits Times, the contractors will be offered the works through a balloting process, said Alexander Nanta Linggi. Malaysia’s works minister.

Out of the total, 122 projects in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan will receive $21.25 million and rest will be earmarked for 336 projects in Peninsular Malaysia.

Last December, the New Straits Times reported that at least 70% or 90,000 out of 140,000 Bumiputera contractors nationwide were in financial difficulty because of fewer government projects. The contractors reportedly said fewer tenders were being opened, a result of years of government changes which led to some projects being delayed or cancelled outright. 

Related Content

  • Futureproofing UK construction equipment resilience
    May 5, 2021
    Rob Oliver is the longstanding CEO of the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), the UK trade association for the UK construction equipment industry. Guy Woodford recently caught up with him to discuss the industry’s health and the key issues facing the CEA and its members in 2021 and beyond.
  • Work starts on Komarno-Komarom Bridge between Slovakia and Hungary
    October 31, 2017
    Construction has started on the €117 million bridge over the Danube River between the Hungarian town of Komarom and the Slovak town of Komarno. Around 85% of the cost will be covered by European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. Completion is planned for winter 2019. Last summer it was announced that the Hungarian companies Hidepito and Meszaros es Meszaros had won the tender for the 600m bridge but with a price tag of just over €91 million, according to Hungarian media. It was also reported at the time
  • Highways England opts for warm mix asphalt
    August 26, 2021
    The company in charge of maintaining England’s strategic highways, including motorways and main roads, is officially shifting its preference towards using warm mix asphalt. Highways England lays out the case for its decision.*
  • VIDEO: Nexus picks up Toowoomba bypass project in Queensland, Australia
    August 21, 2015
    Nexus Infrastructure group has signed a contract with the Australian government to deliver the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing project in Queensland state, costing nearly US$1.2 billion.

    Nexus will design construct, finance, operate and maintain the 41km route that will bypass the city of Toowoomba, east to west.

    Toowomba and district, with a population of around 158,000, is inland 125km west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane, on Australia’s northeast coast.