MALACCA: A total of 1,311 contractors involved in government projects have been allowed to vary their project costs following the recent increase in the cost of building materials.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed said his ministry had so far paid out RM44.2mil as part of the permitted variation of price for 270 projects with calculations being made for the remaining 1,041 projects.

He also said that the ministry had included another 15 construction materials to the current five in the variation of price.

"We have also allowed variation of price for mechanical and electrical work if the work scope includes civil engineering and building construction," he told reporters after attending a briefing here for contractors during a working visit yesterday.

Besides Johor, he noted the ministry had also approved variation of prices for its projects in Malacca and had since paid out RM7mil to the contractors.

Mohd Zin added that a total of 406 projects totalling RM9.4bil would adopt the Industrial Building System with 189 of the projects being tendered out, adding that a total of 121 projects under the system would be tendered out between 2009 and 2010.

He noted the Government would continue adopting the system in a move to reduce dependence on foreign labour while improving the efficiency of the nation?s construction industry.

"Our dependence on foreign labour is extremely high at present with some 2.2 million being employed while only 315,000 of them are

registered," he said, adding that the workers remitted an estimated RM18bil a year to their respective countries.

With the system?s blueprint in place, he said Malaysia hoped to reduce foreign labour in the construction industry to 250,000 by 2015.