PUTRAJAYA: Government-linked companies (GLCs) can offer projects to Class F contractors as they are part of the Government, said Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. 

Many of the contractors were waiting for government projects, which should not be the case, he said. 

"The Cabinet Committee for Investment and Infrastructure discussed this matter and hoped to help the small contractors," he told reporters after the committee meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak here yesterday. 

(Class F contractors are entitled to projects worth up to RM200,000.) 

Samy Vellu said Class F contractors who were eligible for such projects offered by GLCs should have undergone a five-day training course conducted by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). 

He said these contractors would also be given projects by the Public Works Department, which would pay them directly upon completion of a project. 

"PWD will not pay Class F contractors through the bigger contractors as there were cases of them being cheated of their fees," he said, adding that a group of capable contractors would emerge from the move. 

Samy Vellu said a CIDB study found that of some 40,000 Class F contractors nationwide, only 13,000 were active.