Kajang-Sg Buloh MRT project works starts in July (Bernama)
Thursday, April 7, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) urban transport project in the Klang Valley is expected to kick off this November in the south area, after the first tender package is awarded to the contractors.
Land Public Transport Commission (LPTC) chief executive officer Mohd Nur Kamal said the tender award would be done in 16 packages until 2012, with the first five packages to be awarded in November.
"On July 8, we will do the ground-breaking at three sites, namely Sungai Buloh, Semantan and Cochrane, for clearing of the sites. The actual putting up of structures will start at the year end.
"The project tender (for the first five packages) will open in June or July, then followed by the evaluation and award in November," he said at a briefing for the media, here, today. Also present was LPTC chief development officer Azmi Aziz.
Mohd Nur said more than 100 contractors had submitted their pre-qualification documents and would be shortlisted to apply for the tender in June. "They will be selected based on their track record, financial stability and most of all, experience," he said.
Mohd Nur said the remaining 11 tender packages would be awarded simultaneously with the last package, by Oct 31, next year.
However, he added, if the winning companies failed to do their work, the project delivery partner (MMC Gamuda) would withdraw the contract and take over the project, so as to ensure it would be on track, in terms of time and cost.
[KVMRT: We thought PDP should not involve in putting up in any package except the tunneling work]
When asked whether LPTC was willing to build underground rail in areas like Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Sunway and Damansara, Mohd Nur said the commission was not ruling anything out.
"We are not saying it is impossible to do it underground. That (decision) will be made later, after the public display of the project plan when we will give the government the total picture.
"If we take that option (to build underground rail) there will be an additional cost. But that doesn't mean we are ruling it out. At this point, we are still listening to the feedback and exploring possible alternatives," he said.
The MRT project spanning about 51 km (9.5km is underground) from Sungai Buloh to Kajang will cut through the Kuala Lumpur city centre. The project is expected to be completed in 2016.
