KUALA LUMPUR: The government, through the Malaysian Construction Academy (ABM) has trained 146,746 youths and 274,55 construction personnel in various fields since its inception in 1997, the Dewan Rakyat heard today.
Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the training programmes were conducted at six ABMs under supervision of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), in line with government's efforts to improve job-seekers' marketability and reduce dependency on foreign labour.
One of the programmes, he said, was competency and high impact training in trades like welding, wiring, blasting and painting; crane operations and plumbing, started in 2018 with 11,293 people trained so far.
"The second programme was competency training for construction personnel in Industrial Building Systems (IBS), mechanical and electrical, as well as crane operations involving 37,335 participants.
"The third programme for construction industry apprenticeship saw 4,395 participants trained between 2016 and September this year," he said in reply to a question from Datuk Robert Lawson Chuat (GPS-PBB-Betong).
Fadillah said those who have lost their jobs were encouraged to get in touch with CIDB and get training in any of the trades, providing them opportunities to seek a new profession.