Far East
ARCHITECT & BUILDER
The oldest trade journal in the Far East
EDITOR: A. G. BARNETT
Contents
JANUARY 1966
News Review
World News
235
29
35
National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur
41
Low Cost Housing for Fishermen
48
Soft Drink Factory Designed Around Flow
Line
52
28
56
Loyola Retreat House, Angono
Environment: A Subject for Destruction,
by Professor W. G. Gregory.
59
Civil Engineering Section
Paiho Reservoir, Taiwan
62
Sector Gates on Bustos Dam, Philippines 64
New Materials and Equipment
67
New Contractors' Plant
Building Plans Approved
Contracts Awarded
71
75
:
77
Index to Advertisers
90
news review
CHOOSING A CONTRACTOR
ALLEGATIONS that the Hong Kong Government had chosen unsound contractors for some building projects were answered by the Hon. A. M. J. Wright, director of public works, last month.
There were 27 building contracts in hand as part of the resettlement programme, he said, and on the majority of them progress was satisfactory. During the year pro- gress had been slow, at one time or another, on seven of the contracts and four of them, all with the same contractor, were terminated in July and new contractors were found.
Mr. Wright pointed out that the PWD maintained a list of approved contractors, divided into five groups based on their financial resources and proved ability. The list was under continuous review and upgrading, down- grading or complete removal were going on all the time.
"With a restricted list of this sort", he said, "the Tender Board must be presented with good and adequate reasons if the lowest tender is not to be accepted, and in my own experience I have never found the board unwilling to accept a tender other than the lowest when good reasons are put forward.
"At the time when the tenders which are now giving trouble were accepted there was no reason at all to doubt the financial standing or the ability of the contractors con- cerned." he said.
"While it is easy enough to get a contractor to speed up when the contract is going well, there is very little positive action one can take to make a contractor go faster when he is in difficulties.
"But we do everything we can to get contractors particularly those on resettlement to complete the work within the contract time, and where we have had to take action under the terms of the contract the resultant delays have been cut to an absolute minimum."
POWER STATION PROJECT
Cover Picture: Exterior view of the special Dewan or hall at Malaysia's National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur. The mosque is described on page 41.
Published monthly by Far East Trade Press Ltd., 1908, Prince's Building, Hong Kong. Tel: 241031 European Office: Building and Contract Journals Ltd., 32 Southwark Bridge Road, London, 8. E. 1. Tel: Waterloo 2060. Printed by Bhum Shing Print- ing Co., 7 Ship Street, Hong Kong. Tel: 724513.
Controlled circulation to 5,000 qualified readers
A GIANT thermal power station with an eventual capacity of 480 megawatts is to be constructed at Port Dickson. Malaya, by the National Electricity Board.
The board is now inviting tenders for building rock bunds, reclaiming an area of foreshore and clearing and levelling an adjacent area.
Initially the station will produce 120 megawatts 15 megawatts more than the Cameron Highlands scheme. This stage is expected to be completed in 1969. The consulting engineers are Preece, Cardew and Rider, of London.
The NEB has undertaken several large power projects in the last ten years.
These include the M$125 million Cameron Highlands project completed in June 1963, and the M$147 million Batang Padang hydro-electric scheme due for completion in 1968.
Next year work is expected to be completed on a M$57 million power station at Prai. This will have an initial capacity of 60 megawatts and an ultimate output capacity of 270 megawatts.
Far East Architect & Builder January, 1966
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