Wee to justify scrapping of KVDT2 award to Dhaya Maju-LTAT
PETALING JAYA: Transport minister Wee Ka Siong will likely get a chance to refute claims made against him by the contractor for the stalled Klang Valley Double Tracking, Phase 2 (KVDT2) project when the matter comes before the High Court for case management on Wednesday. On April 14, judge Noorin…
PETALING JAYA: Transport minister Wee Ka Siong will likely get a chance to refute claims made against him by the contractor for the stalled Klang Valley Double Tracking, Phase 2 (KVDT2) project when the matter comes before the High Court for case management on Wednesday.
On April 14, judge Noorin Badaruddin had granted the contractor, Dhaya Maju-LTAT Sdn Bhd, leave to challenge Wee’s decision to terminate its contract.
The judge also halted the government’s efforts to put the project up for public tender, pending disposal of the case.
The government will now be called on to refute Dhaya Maju-LTAT’s claim that it had acted irrationally, unreasonably and in bad faith and had an improper motive when terminating the contract for a second time last year.
In its affidavit, the contractor claimed that the government terminated its contract and called for an open tender after it rejected the minister’s proposal to sub-contract the project to two China corporations.
Dhaya Maju-LTAT also told the High Court that it had carried out work valued at RM300 million. To date, it has received RM99 million in payment from the government.
Located at the heart of KTM’s railway network, the KVDT2 project was conceptualised to rehabilitate a 20-year-old rail track connecting Rawang, Klang and Seremban, three of the more densely populated towns surrounding Klang Valley.
The existing track has seen many operational issues, including signal failure, and requires trains to slow down to 20kmh on some stretches. It has seen several derailments, thus posing a safety risk to passengers.
The KVDT2 project will see trains running at up to 120kmh with increased service frequency and minimal disruptions.
The dispute with the various governments, however, has delayed the project’s completion and put the contractor’s 1,512 employees at risk of losing their jobs.
The initial contract, for the sum of RM5.2billion, was awarded in April 2018 after multiple consultations with the transport ministry, KTM, the Railway Assets Corporation (RAC) and numerous other government agencies.
The price was arrived at after a detailed analysis carried out by the government’s own value management and value engineering labs.
That award was, however, scrapped in October 2018, shortly after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government came into power. Dhaya Maju-LTAT then disputed the termination.
After some delay and renegotiations, the PH government and contractor agreed to a reduced contract for RM4.475 billion. A letter of award was issued by the government to the contractor on Aug 19, 2019, and a formal contract was meant to follow shortly.
The fall of the PH government at the beginning of 2020, however, has seen the contractor suffer another blow at the hands of the current Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
On Aug 28 last year, Wee announced that the government would not be “continuing with the implementation of the project”.
The minister claimed the project was “overpriced” and that a study conducted by Opus Consultants had valued it at RM3.398 million, a claim which PH transport minister Loke Siew Fook has disputed.
In a letter dated Sept 23, 2020, Wee claimed that the termination was made in the national interest.
In challenging Wee’s position in the High Court, Dhaya Maju-LTAT claims it was “a victim of the wind of change of politics and government, and the whim and fancy of the minister”. — Free Malaysia Today