Picture: The member of parliament for Bintulu, Dato' Seri Tiong King Sing JP. BINTULU - Government contractors have been urged to complete their projects on schedule. "Projects must also be finished with quality workmanship," said Bintulu Member of Parliament, Dato Seri Tiong King Sing, at a 'Leader With The People' gathering organised by Malaysian Information Services (MIS) Department at Rumah Dingun, Km 68, Jalan Bintulu-Tatau, last Monday night. He said the Barisan Nasional government at times got the blame when contractors failed to complete their projects within the time frame given. He stressed that contractors and developers must implement government projects in accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated in their contracts. Regarding minor rural projects (MRP), Tiong reiterated that he would not hesitate to blacklist those contractors who failed to carry them out after having been awarded the projects. Urging community leaders and village security and development committees (JKKKs) to inform the relevant authorities or himself if they found any approved projects that were delayed or done with bad workmanship. "We should not tolerate contractors that cannot perform up to expectation," he said. "If they cannot carry out the projects awarded to them, the government want to know about it." Earlier on, Tiong expressed surprise after learning that water tanks meant for a number of longhouses in Ulu Bintulu had not been delivered although they had been approved last year. He regretted that nobody from the longhouses concerned had told him about the matter. "Now that I know about it, I assure the folks that the tanks will be distributed beginning next month," he said, adding that the initial delay would be investigated. To community leaders such as longhouse chiefs, he also told them to pay more attention to the increasing number of broken marriages among their people. "More and more people get divorced nowadays and you should be concerned. Find out why and deal with the problem. If you can't handle it, say so and get assistance," he said, adding that children were being left behind to fend for themselves when sole their breadwinners simply abandoned them. He believed that longhouse chiefs and other community leaders should play a more active role in handling marriages and divorce among their own people. For those who want to get married, he said, the chiefs should at least advise them about what to expect after tying the knot so that they would not just give up when they go through rocky patches in their relationships. To locals in general, he urged them not to consume alcoholic drinks excessively "because alcoholics tend to have personal, family and work-related problems". There have been quite an increase in the number of crime cases of late and a number of them involved young people who got too drunk. For making the gathering at the longhouse possible, Tiong thanked the officers of the National Population and Family Development Department, District Office, Agriculture Department, Fire and Rescue Service Department, as well as members of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) from Kidurong, Jepak and Kemena.