Give us RM36b MRT project, says Malay Chamber (Bernama)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia has asked the government to hand over the RM36 billion Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project, the country's biggest infrastructure project, to the chamber.
[KVMRT: What do they mean by ask government to hand over the project? Are they qualified for this?]
The chamber says it will undertake the mega project in collaboration with other contractors' associations.
"We'll implement the whole project in collaboration with other contractors' associations on a joint-venture basis or acquiring the companies involved in the massive project," said chamber president Syed Ali Alatas.
He said the project, currently managed by Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB), had imposed several conditions to companies intending to bid for the project and the conditions seemed difficult for Bumiputera contractors to participate in the project.
Among the conditions that seemed to block opportunities to Bumiputeras are stopping them to team up with any company at any stage and must have at least RM10 million paid-up capital, he told a media conference when giving feedback from the chamber's members on the MRT slated for completion in 2020 in tandem with the Vision 2020 deadline to transform Malaysia into an advanced nation.
With the tough conditions stipulated by SPNB, Syed Ali said that only 37 companies or Bumiputera contractors would be able to bid for the project of the 16,000 members of the Malay Contractors' Association of Malaysia.
Association president Datuk Mokhtar Samad, who was present at the media conference, said the association urged the government to re-visit the conditions to enable more Malay contractors or Bumiputeras to part take in the project.
"We hope the government will allow joint ventures or to set up consortiums by Bumiputera contractors to enable them to be involved in the project," he said.
"We are now holding on to the assurance given by SPNB Group managing director Shahril Mokhtar that Bumiputera contractors will not be lift out from participating in the massive development project," he added.
