He submitted a preliminary report to the cabinet today on buildings with defects, two of which were highlighted by the press recently and irked the prime minister who had been championing a maintenance culture.

Samy Vellu told reporters after a post-cabinet meeting that the cost was high as "many engineers will be appointed to have a detailed inspection".

He said approval had yet to be given.

"The cabinet wanted it (the inspection) to be done quickly, but we will leave it to the Chief Secretary (Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan), who has a proposal involving all parties and a committee led by the auditor-general (Tan Sri Setia Ambrin Buang)," he said.

Samy Vellu said it was proposed that the Public Works Department (PWD) become a technical agent in the Ambrin Buang-led committee which would inspect all buildings in Putrajaya.

On April 11, a burst pipe at the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya caused widespread damage and brought daily operations to a halt. Operations resumed at 9am the next day.

On April 12, the prime minister expressed anger over the incident, and asked the PWD to investigate the defects although all buildings in the administrative capital came under Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd.

On April 28, part of the ceiling of a multi-purpose hall at the Entrepreneurial Development and Co-operative Ministry in Putrajaya collapsed, causing a water pipe to drop and burst.

On April 30, the prime minister ordered an immediate inspection of all government buildings for defects.

On the contractor allegedly responsible for the landing light failure at the Sultan Mahmud Airport in Kuala Terengganu, Samy Vellu said he did not believe the report given by the contractor and instructed the PWD to investigage the incident and act against the contractor if he was found negligent.

"I must make it clear that I did not believe the contractor's statement.

"For the delays and nuisance they had caused, we have to discipline them and that's my view," he said. The airport was closed for two nights because the contractor had cut the cables, causing the landing lights to go out.

The transport minister had earlier asked the PWD to act on the contractor as the supervising agency for the upgrading project.

On the cracks found at the newly-opened Jalan Duta court complex, Samy Vellu said he met the contractor yesterday and told him the repair work must be done as soon as possible and to inspect the court complex again to prevent a recurrence.

"I had reported to the cabinet that the contractor still has a few million ringgit with us to repair any defects to the court complex," he said.

Samy Vellu also said up to April 30, 1,398 projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) were tendered out by the PWD and RM10.031 billion had been paid to contractors responsible for 573 projects which cost RM17.305 billion.

He said some projects were delayed but no abandonment so far.

To prevent further delays, the department has:

• provided technical assistance to contractors;
• sped up payment and approval for contractors;
• used available building material for re-designing of the project;
• annulled the contracts and appoint new contractors to resume the project; and
• re-scheduled the implementation of the project.