Batu Kitang rep: S’wak govt should not promote undercutting among professionals in tender processes

By Marlynda Meraw

KUCHING, May 21: The Sarawak government should not encourage professionals to undercut each other in project tendering processes, said Batu Kitang assemblyman Dato Lo Khere Chiang.

He gave an example of engineers, whereby the professionals will be undercutting each other in order to be awarded the tender for a certain project, which thereby underplays the importance of engineers.

To Lo, what makes the matter worse is the prevalent undercutting of professional fees through the tendering system, with discounts of 30 to 50 per cent off the gazetted scale becoming “disturbingly common”.

He said that the State government should pay the professionals at the rate as stipulated in the Board of Engineers Malaysia’s (BEM) Scale of Fees.

Speaking during the motion of appreciation on the TYT’s opening address at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) sitting today, Lo stressed the urgent need to make the BEM’s Scale of Fees mandatory across all government projects to safeguard professional integrity.

He also called for Building Information Modelling (BIM) to be separately scoped and compensated, adding that AutoCAD should suffice for standard projects as the former requires expensive software and skilled personnel.

Lo further highlighted the burden placed on Engineering Consultancy Practices (ECPs) in Sarawak due to the Sarawak-Specific Professional Indemnity Insurance (SPII) requirement, which he argued duplicates existing national insurance obligations under BEM rules.

“All ECPs already maintain national PII under BEM rules. SPII results in double premiums for a risk claimable only once,” he said, citing that many ECPs are already struggling to sustain operations as the BEM Scale of Fees has remained stagnant despite rising operational costs in salaries, software, hardware, and insurance.

“Underpaying professionals sends the wrong signal to our youth,” he cautioned.

Referring to recent education statistics, Lo pointed out that 800 Sarawakian students failed to sit for the 2024 SPM exams, which he viewed as a sign of growing disillusionment.

“If even engineers are underpaid, what message are we sending?” he asked. –DayakDaily

Advertisement