Roland Chia
KOTA KINABALU: The Construction Industry Vaccination Program (CIVac) will be extended to Sabah in the earliest possible future.
Dr Roland Chia Ming Shen, director of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, disclosed on Monday.
He said a special task force had been set up in Sabah to expedite CIVAc in Sabah. The task force will comprise of federal and state agencies and the stakeholders of the construction industry namely the developers, builders, professional consultants and hardware materials operators.
This is in line with the Federal Minister of Works and the Chief Minister of Sabah’s call to expedite the vaccination program for the construction industry in Sabah.
The Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia through CIDB Holdings Sdn Bhd (a wholly own subsidiary of CIDB Malaysia) which is an agency under the Federal Ministry of Works, has introduced the CIVac to accelerate the vaccination uptake among the construction workforce to achieve herd immunity and reduce the Covid-19 workplace clusters.
This program aims at protecting the well-being of employees in the construction industry and subsequently facilitate in expediting Malaysia’s economic recovery.
CIVac is to complement the National Covid-19 Immunisation Program (PICK).
Through CIVac, members of the industry in Sabah may register for the vaccination programme.
The vaccines are provided free of charge but the employers will need to pay for administrative cost of RM90 per person to cover the medical facilities and venue expenses as CIVac is a public-private initiative.
Upon achieving the quota, the vaccination exercise will commence as soon as possible and registration can be done via https://tinyurl.com/rrvdhje3 .
Meanwhile, the Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA) applauds the initiative by the CIDB to bring in the CIVac.
Its president, Datuk Chua Soon Ping, called for registration of vaccination before July 18.
For projects under construction, the developers or contractors are encouraged to register all their site workers for this program so they can resume work as soon as vaccination is being administered subject to the approval and SOP by CIDB Malaysia.
“We are glad that the government has responded to our call to increase vaccination in Sabah,” said Chua in response to the statement by the Chief Minister that Sabah will receive 2.2 million doses of vaccine within the next two months.
“Sabah must try to achieve 60,000 doses per day in order to achieve herd immunity by end of the year.
This is only possible when all parties such as the Ministry of Health dedicate resources to speed up the vaccination in the state.
“We encourage members of the construction industry to spread the words and act swiftly and register for CIVac before the deadline,” Chua added.
For further information on CIVac, public may contact the nearest CIDB offices.