KUCHING: The Public Works Department (JKR) has refuted accusations by Pending assemblywoman that it did not adhere to the Works Ministry’s guidelines in the usage of geotextiles.
In an immediate response to Violet Yong, the department said geotextiles were important and commonly used construction materials in road projects in the state.
JKR tender documents complied with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Finance Malaysia on the use of local Malaysian products, it added.
JKR said the older version of the Standard Specification for Road Works (SSRW) JKR/SPJ/1988,which forms part of the JKR Sarawak road contract currently under implementation states, “Materials of Malaysian origin where available must be used by the contractor to the exclusion of imported materials and this requirement shall be allowed for in this tender.
“Under no circumstances shall the contractor be permitted to use imported materials unless he can prove to the satisfaction of the SO (Superintending Officer) that the materials are not available locally, or if available are not of an acceptable standard,” it added in a press statement.
The department pointed out that its tender documents did not specifically allow the use of foreign product per se.
The use of Malaysian products, however, is not strictly mandatory as the SSRW specifically allows for foreign products to be used if Malaysian products are not available locally or if available are not of acceptable standards.
“The federal Works Ministry has not published any official technical specifications on geotextiles. SSRW does not state the technical standards and criteria for geotextiles.
“The technical standards and criteria for geotextiles may vary from project to project and even from different areas of application within the same project,” it added.
The department further said that the selection criteria of geotextiles were dependent on the ground conditions and the design requirement by the Professional Engineers.
Specific technical standards, acceptance criteria and conformance testing for geotextiles are specified in the Specifications of Particular Application in the tender document of the projects to meet specific design requirements.
The technical specifications and criteria and conformance testing for geotextiles as specified in the tender documents are the minimum that must be complied with during construction.
The technical specifications, criteria and conformance testing are such that they are not restrictive or tailored to suit any one particular brand of product or supplier only. Compliance with these technical standards, acceptance criteria and conformance testing will ensure only quality products are used in the projects.
Geotextiles manufactured in Malaysia generally meet the technical criteria and standards and are being extensively used in road construction projects in Sarawak.
In certain circumstances such as when supply of Malaysian geotextiles could not meet with the demand and when such a situation could lead to delay in the road construction and the contractor is contractually bound to offer mitigation measures to avoid delay, the Superintending Officer may then approve the use of foreign geotextiles provided that the technical criteria and standards as specified are met and conformance testing is carried out as specified.
The use of such geotextiles is subject to application from contractors and prior approval of the Superintending Officer must be obtained before they are allowed to be used in the project,all as per specified in the older version of SSRW which is applicable for the current projects under construction.
In another note, JKR Sarawak said it has started to incorporate the latest version of the SSRW JKR/SPJ/2015-S1 into JKR tender documents for the new projects.
The new version states, “The contractor shall use locally manufactured materials and goods as listed in the ‘Senarai Bahan/Barangan Binaan Buatan Tempatan’ issued by IKRAM QA Services Sdn Bhd and/or ‘Senarai Bahan/Barangan Buatan Tempatan’, issued by SIRIM QA Services Sdn Bhd, whichever is relevant. If the contractor fails to comply with this requirement, such materials supplied shall be rejected.”
In addition, it also states, “Under no circumstances will the contractor be permitted to incorporate or supply imported materials, plant, equipment or other goods into the works or forming part of the
Scope of Works except those approved by the government, prior to the execution of the contract.”
In this regard, there is in fact an avenue for the use of imported materials provided they are approved by the government prior to the execution of the contract.
