Special Feature
New CEO at the helm of CIDB B & I met up with Ir Ahmad ‘ Asri Abdul Hamid , newly appointed CEO of CIDB Malaysia , to catch up on recent industry accomplishments and issues .
COMPLETE WITH HAND-OVER ceremony , there has been a changing of the guard quite recently ( on 1 March , to be exact ) at the Construction Industry Development Board ( CIDB ) with Ir Ahmad ‘ Asri Abdul Hamid now at the helm as its newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer . In a career path similar to that of his predecessor Dato ’ Sri Ir Dr Judin Abdul Karim who retired in December 2015 , Ir Ahmad ‘ Asri has chalked up more than three decades in public service , half of which with Jabatan Kerja Raya ( Public Works Department ), as Mechanical Engineer , and the other with CIDB , latterly as Senior General Manager , Management Sector . Other portfolios in CIDB held by Ir Ahmad ‘ Asri , as General Manager , include the International Division , the Corporate Division and Development Sector .
In between was a three-year stint as President of the Professional Services Development Corporation ( PSDC ), engaged in the development of capability / capacity in facing challenges of liberalisation and exportability of its services and setting up of an information hub for professional companies . In early March , B & I called on Ir Ahmad ‘ Asri for a candid chat on some issues in the construction industry :
B & I : Firstly , our heartiest congratulations on your recent appointment . On the threshold of both the 11th Malaysia Plan & CITP , what positive factors , do you reckon , will drive and ensure the success of these two programmes ?
AAAH : One of the positive factors , for Construction Industry Transformation Plan ( CITP ) in particular , is the fact that the industry is coming forward and working together with us ; like I mentioned earlier , the preparation of CITP was done with the industry and Government agencies and other stakeholders . To-date , we have pledges from 121 industry players in support of CITP . Everybody knows about CITP , the PM , the Ministry and the industry itself so we have to implement it . Now it is a matter of getting full and complete support from the industry ,
so to speak .
Secondly , I see that in the changes we have been promoting , the take-up has been slow but the good thing is that a lot of mega projects are being implemented . These are bringing in expertise and they are coming forward to us to basically get accredited and get recognised . A good example is the MRT project where MMC Gamuda has come to say ‘ why don ’ t we work together in training , why don ’ t we adopt say OSHA 18000 for safety ?’ Projects of this magnitude bring in a lot of foreign expertise and best practices are emphasised , which , eventually , will cascade down to smaller projects and transform the industry .
B & I : Conversely , given the set time frame for these two programmes , what would be some of the challenges , or negative factors , that CIDB and the industry has to face and overcome to ensure success ?
AAAH : From the perspective mentioned earlier , the challengers would be the flip side of the coin , in that smaller-scale companies that are so used to conventional methods don ’ t want to change and to change them is not easy . The other challenge , basically , perception - for example , we are promoting
Ir Ahmad ‘ Asri Abdul Hamid , CEO of CIDB Malaysia .
building sustainability , MyCREST and all that but the perception is that the cost will be higher . These are negative factors we need to overcome . As for IBS ( Industrialised Building System ), a lot of people admit that the cost is about the same so we are getting there . Even to go green , for example , the perception is that it is going to cost more money but if you look at the life cycle of the project or building , then it is definitely cheaper in the long run
B & I : In its stewardship of the Malaysian construction industry , CIDB has never failed to collaborate with and ‘ learn from the best ’, e . g ., recently , with the Construction Industry Council , Hong Kong . Who else has CIDB signed such alliances with and for what specific purposes ?
AAAH : Actually we have signed more than a hundred collaborations ; one of these , signed recently , was with the British Institute of Facility Management ( BIFM ) because we are now introducing the idea here . The Government has asked that we start registering FM companies and make it compulsory for them to have FM-competent persons and the necessary modules and standards ,
For safety , we also signed with Landlease ,
12 Building & Investment | www . b-i . biz