Auditor-General's Report on Perlis: Projects 'riddled with defects'

NSTP

KUALA LUMPUR: Projects to beautify and provide recreational facilities in Kuala Perlis and the beach by the Kangar Municipal Council are riddled with serious defects.

The report by the Auditor-General on the Perlis government said the council did not comply with the Treasury's instructions, circular letters and contract documents when implementing these projects.

"There are some serious defects whereby cracks were found in several structures and this is unsafe for the people," added the report tabled in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

The report said although the projects were completed within the 104 weeks extension given to the contractor, cracks and sediments showed the poor quality of the structures as well as a lack of monitoring by the council.

The report noted that cracks were in buildings and facilities.
"A visit to the beach by the audit officers from the technical unit with representatives of the council on April 21found that there were serious cracks in the food court's pillars.

"The food court had to be immediately closed for repairs to prevent any untoward incidents from happening."

The report stated that the projects were implemented under the 8th Malaysia Plan and they involved the construction of sidewalks, food court, surau, toilets, information centre, souvenir shop, man-made island, water fountain and parking lots.

The construction of these facilities began in November 2002.

They were completed in November 2005 at a cost of RM10.53 million.

The report said the council requested for a RM1.5 million allocation from the Perlis Tourism Action Council to repair the structures in May 2007, six months after the defect liability period ended in November 2006.

The report also noted that there were weaknesses in the implementation of the Perlis Land and Mines Department's computerised land registration system.

"It is found that the data transferring by contractors did not comply with the contracts, the quality of transferred data was unsatisfactory, security of the system was not effective and data corrections were not recorded."