THE growing downturn has prompted the Government to consider bringing forward some of the $4.7 billion worth of deferred construction projects in a bid to boost the economy.

It will likely approve some moderate-size developments as a way of helping smaller firms get through the slump, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.

'We're in the process of re-looking at these projects and seeing how we can bring forward some of these deferred projects. This is an exercise that's ongoing at the moment,' he said on the sidelines of an HDB event.

Details of what projects could be brought forward will be released early next year, hopefully before the Budget, said Mr Mah.

The Singapore Contractors Association's president Desmond Hill backed the move: 'For now, the sizeable projects are still keeping the medium to large contractors busy. For small contractors, business might have died out, so this is welcome.'

Public building works worth about $4.7 billion were deferred in three separate announcements over the past year due to soaring construction costs and a manpower crunch brought about by a building boom. The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said previously that the projects ranged in value from $10 million to $400 million each.

They included the Jurong General Hospital, the National Art Gallery, the National Addiction Management Centre, the Communicable Disease Centre and an extension of Changi Prison.

Extensions for the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum, worth about $67 million, were also rescheduled. These jobs could make a comeback as they are relatively small.

Mr Mah said that 'where the costs have come down, and projects are a reasonable size, the important thing is to give priority to smaller projects so our smaller local contractors are able to benefit'.

Ministries and statutory boards are also looking to bring forward some developments to take advantage of the potentially lower building costs, he added.

The HDB and National Development Ministry could consider starting work like lift upgrading, as well as the Home Improvement and Neighbourhood Renewal programmes.

Estates such as Yishun, Tampines and Hougang have been selected for work under HDB's revised upgrading schemes.

'Not all of these projects can be brought forward totally, because some of the projects are very large and some of the costs may not have come down sufficiently,' said Mr Mah.

Mr Hill told The Straits Times he hoped that, in the longer term, the larger deferred public projects will be started by 2010, as existing jobs will have been completed.

But he also flagged another concern facing builders - hard-to-get credit.

'Some contractors surveyed have found it increasingly hard to get financing for new jobs,' he said.

Perhaps plans can be ironed out with the banks to help contractors through this period of tight credit, he added.

jcheam@sph.com.sg