MBAM, Rehda urge government to address supply chain disruption concerns caused by lorry drivers’ strike

• The lorry drivers’ strike began on Oct 17 in states such as Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Melaka, Penang and Negeri Sembilan among others, in protest of the Road Transport Department's (JPJ's) enforcement operation of seizing overloaded lorries.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 26): Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) and the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) Malaysia have urged the government to address concerns caused by the construction materials supply chain disruption, in the aftermath of the recent lorry drivers’ strike, according to a joint statement by MBAM president Oliver HC Wee and Rehda Malaysia president Datuk NK Tong, issued on Wednesday (Oct 25).

The lorry drivers’ strike began on Oct 17 in states such as Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Melaka, Penang and Negeri Sembilan among others, in protest of the Road Transport Department's (JPJ's) enforcement operation of seizing overloaded lorries. Several news reports have stated that the strike ended on Oct 22.

The statement said, "The recent [lorry drivers’ strike] has upset and badly impacted the construction industry. In light of this occurrence, a number of construction sites has had to stop their works for more than a week, which is uneconomical, as it prevented them from operating in full swing. This has also led to a disruption of delivery for building materials, namely quarry products and sand".

As a result of this, the industry would have to shoulder all extra cost and time, on top of other issues which would significantly reduce the sector’s productivity, it added.

"As a result, MBAM and Rehda urges the government to intervene and assist immediately in addressing these concerns, before [these] escalate further, as the industry is still [recovering from the pandemic]. We hope that a solution can be found that ensures the continued smooth operation of our construction economy, while upholding safety and compliance standards," the statement said.

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