CIDB allocates RM7 mln to speed up COVID-19 screening for foreign workers

PUTRAJAYA: The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has agreed to allocate RM7 million to assist small and medium construction companies speed up COVID-19 screening for their foreign workers.

Senior Minister (Works) Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said although the Social Security Organisation (Socso) had been conducting COVID-19 screening for foreign workers, the developers needed to pay for it first but the small and medium companies could not afford to do that.

"COVID-19 screening is crucial for foreign workers to reduce the risk of the viral infection at the construction sites.

"Now we see that the construction sector is active again but at the same time, the challenge is ensuring adherence to the standard operating procedure (SOP) as this sector is the second biggest contributor of COVID-19 positive cases."

He said this at a press conference after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin delivered his One-Year Malaysia Prihatin keynote address to mark his first anniversary in office as the prime minister.

According to Fadillah, the country's construction industry suffered losses amounting to RM11.6 billon in the first month of implementation of the Movement Control Order in March last year.

-- BERNAMA