Ingenieur Vol.79 July-Sept 2019 ingenieur 2019 july-sept | Page 38

INGENIEUR Requirements for Temporary Amenities and Accommodation for Construction Workers By Maria Zura Mohd Zain, Nurulhuda Mat Kilau, Ahmad Farhan Roslan and Zuhairi Abd Hamid Construction Research Institute of Malaysia T he construction industry in Malaysia, one of the country’s most productive sectors, has contributed significantly to the Malaysian economy as an enabler of growth for other industries. Although it accounts for less than 5% of Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the industry is an essential growth enabler due to its extensive linkages with the rest of the economy, for example, the manufacturing sector, professional services, financial services, education sector, and other industries. Figure 1 shows the link between the construction industry and other sectors in Malaysia based on GDP. The Malaysian construction industry is identified as an important sector that drives the Malaysian economy, as shown by the GDP breakdown by Sector in Figure 2 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2019). The construction industry is known as one of the labour-intensive sectors, proportionate to the number of workers on site. Under the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11 th MP), improving the management of foreign workers was highlighted as part of an initiative to improve labour market efficiency to accelerate economic growth. The Government introduced a strict liability concept whereby employers of foreign workers were made fully responsible for their recruitment process and welfare (Economic Planning Unit Malaysia, 2015). Employers and workers shall comply with the strict liability with basic amenities and compliance with international labour standards. 6 36 VOL VOL 79 55 JULY-SEPTEMBER JUNE 2013 2019 In response to the agenda, the Ministry of Works (MOW) Malaysia, together with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, spearheaded the development of the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP) 2016-2020. Part of the initiatives under the CITP is to deliver an industry culture that is ingrained with quality, safety, productivity and professionalism through introducing a minimum standard for workers’ amenities and increasing on-site safety enforcement (CIDB Malaysia, 2015). CITP proposes regulating a minimum level of workers’ amenities through the enforcement of Act 446 Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act (Laws of Malaysia, 2006) under the purview of the Ministry of Human Resource (The Borneo Post, 2015). Construction Workers According to Malaysia’s Employment Act 1955, Section 2(1), a domestic worker is a worker who is a Malaysian citizen and is employed with salary as a reward for their contract of service (Laws of Malaysia, 2019). Indirectly, the foreign construction worker also shares a similar definition except for citizenship, which, in a way, differentiates them from indigenous construction workers. Their presence in this country is mainly due to the rising number of construction projects,