KUCHING: Since 1997, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia has spent more than RM646 million to train youths and constructions personnel at six Akademi Binaan Malaysia (ABM) centres nationwide.
According to Works Minister, Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof, almost RM52 million was spent last year on the training compared to RM32 million in the previous year.
“This is a high achievement. Since 2015, CIDB has changed the training approach in ABM to focus on high impact skills training.
“The high impact skills are highly demanded in the construction industry, offer higher incomes and have the potential to attract more local youths to participate in the industry,” he pointed out, adding among the high impact skills offered by ABM were Scaffolding Erection, Welding 3G & 6G, Wiremen PW1, PW2, PW3 and PW4.
He said this in his speech during the launching ceremony of the new CIDB Convention Centre Sarawak (CCCS) at Jalan Sultan Tengah here yesterday.
The Convention Centre enhances the facilities provided at the CIDB complex.
CIDB Chairman, Tan Sri Dr Ir Ahmad Tajuddin Ali said, in his welcoming remarks, besides CCCS, three blocks of two-storey hostels and six sports facilities were completed in the first phase of development costing a total of RM30 million.
“The construction of the hostel building is a positive step to improve the comfort of trainees and encourage more youths from Sarawak to become skilled workers in the construction sector,” he pointed out.
Ahmad said the second phase of the development would kick off next year.
“This phase will cover the construction of new buildings that can accommodate more training workshops for ABM and upgrading of existing training workshops.
“This will further increase the capacity of ABM to train more Sarawak youths. In addition, CIDB will also build a staff quarters for the ABM staff and a surau building that will be able to accommodate larger congregations,” he added.
