12 police projects worth RM500mil abandoned
The Star 22/11/2005

KUALA LUMPUR: Stretched out across Malaysia from Kuantan to Mersing and from Kinarut to Segamat are 12 incomplete police projects, mostly houses.

They lie in shambles, some without electricity and plumbing, some without roofs, some just a mass of foundation pillars and nothing else.

“There are 211 projects proposed under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, including housing and district headquarters projects, costing around RM1.8bil,” said Bukit Aman logistics director Deputy Comm Datuk Saharudin Samsudin.

“Out of these, 99 were completed.

“The remaining 112 are supposed to be in various stages of planning and implementation, of which 12 have been abandoned,” he said.

For example, said DCP Saharudin, the Larut Matang police quarters, commissioned in 2002 for RM31mil, was abandoned last year.

“The land has been cleared but construction has not begun yet,” he added.

In another instance, the Kuala Kangsar project, which cost around RM15mil, was abandoned two years after work began in 2000.

DCP Saharudin said only the structure's framework was up.

The situation isn't much different with the other abandoned projects.

In Setiu, the project was only a quarter way complete.

In Shah Alam, the Selangor Contingent Headquarters Logistics Complex and staff quarters are only half complete.

But what probably rankles the most is the General Operations Force housing scheme in Kinarut, Sabah (pictured above).

Costing a whopping RM215mil, the mega project was only 35% complete when a dispute between the main contractor and sub-contractors led to work being suspended early this year.

Work has not resumed and the project has become an eyesore.

Amounting to some RM500mil, these abandoned or “sick” projects have caused a logistical nightmare in providing housing for 2,670 police personnel.

“Sometimes, they are unable to get housing close to their work place and have to look for houses more than 30km away,” DCP Saharudin said.