The slow economic rate in Malaysia is having an impact on many Malaysians, particularly those working in the construction industry, causing many to lose employment due to a lack of projects.
Malaysian Malay Contractors Association president Datuk Seri Mohamed Fadzill Hassan said the slow economic rate coupled with an excess in the number of contractors were making it hard for the industry players to secure jobs.
Some have been "project-less" for four months.
"After the Movement Control Order (MCO), we see a mushrooming of private factories, but that job only lasts for about a year.
"Now that many of the projects have been completed, everything is slowing down… Our workers are now in abundance," he said.
The slow economic rate, he said, would have impacted a whole chain of workers — from the big enterprises up to the lower scale workers.
"When contractors have no jobs, the metal workers will have no jobs..workers too will have no jobs.
"The salary of the daily rated workers then was RM120 per day because of the high demand, but when there is no job, it is reduced to RM80.
"When there is no job, contractors won't keep permanent workers because it is also hard for them to sustain the company."
Meanwhile, Workers in the Construction Industry Union president Alias Yaakob said the lack of government-contract mega projects or on-site jobs had driven some construction workers out of work.
The effect is, however, not minuscule, as it also leaves carpenters, bar benders, crane operators and lorry drivers out of work.
"We have about 4,000 tower crane operators nationwide, only about 2,000 of them are working.
"If we look at it, there are no big projects now… some projects have been completed and others are almost completed.
"In Kuala Lumpur, we're building a flyover (Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway).
"The Tun Razak Exchange project is almost done, as well as the building nearby Stadium Merdeka (Merdeka 118).
"Even mega projects such as the light rail transit and mass rapid transit, are almost done… the construction of the East Coast Rail Line is not going that smoothly in some areas," he said.
He added that their industry had already started to slow down even before the MCO.
Alias said there were limited projects in other states as well.
"There's only one project in Penang around Kulim Hi-Tech and another one in Bayan Lepas. There's also a paper factory project in Banting, Selangor but that one is also almost completed," he said.
Meanwhile, Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) president Oliver Wee Hiang Chyn expressed hope that there would be more projects for the construction industry to recover from the pre-Covid-19 pandemic era.
"MBAM also hoped that the government would soon roll out more infrastructure projects that would be extended to the private sector in the second half of this year," he said.
Earlier this year, the World Bank had said that Malaysia should expect a slower rate of expansion for its economy in 2023 despite the fact that the country had the potential for higher growth.
Its country director for Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand Ndiamé Diop had said that Malaysia would likely see growth rate retreat to four per cent this year from 2022.
However, in the 2023 Economic Report, the Finance Ministry has projected the Malaysian economy to grow by 4.5 per cent in 2023, even as the World Bank warned about the global economy being "perilously close" to falling into recession this year.
It said that all economic sectors were expected to remain in the positive growth trajectory in 2023, driven by the services and manufacturing sectors.