Prasarana to be property developer

MRT firm goes big on property

Syarikat Prasarana plans to step up developments around its train stations
By Pauline Ng

Public transport in the Klang Valley and some of the country's bigger cities has become a priority for Putrajaya after decades of neglect as Malaysians decry every attempt to increase fuel prices as unreasonable given the lamentable rail and bus services - Photo: Bloomberg

TO defray some of the massive costs incurred in public transport infrastructure projects, Syarikat Prasarana Nasional Bhd is planning to step up real estate development around its train stations and list its rail operations in 2018, after the first Klang Valley mass rapid transit (MRT) line is completed in 2017.

The state-owned transport operator is looking at real estate with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of over RM3 billion (S$1.2 billion) to be undertaken in a joint venture with developers.

"We are going big into property and commercial," group managing director Shahril Mokhtar said at a press briefing yesterday.

Prasarana derives 8 per cent of its revenue from non-fares - 92 per cent comes from fares - but aims to increase the share to 20-30 per cent by 2017 without incurring "a single sen" since its partners would be building on land owned by the Federal Land Commissioner.


Latest property projects involved mixed-developments in
> Brickfields and Ara Damansara worth RM1.2bil and RM700mil in gross development value (GDV) respectively.

> Ara Damansara development last year to Trans Resources Corp Sdn Bhd in a joint venture and will announce the contract owner for the Brickfields project by the end of next month.

>joint venture with Crest Builder and Detik Utuh Sdn Bhd to develop RM1.04bil of retail, offices and serviced residences adjacent to the Dang Wangi LRT station.

It expected to gain RM220mil from its 21.2% share in the project.

Another JV is with Naza TTDI Ventures to build RM155.3mil of residences in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

A woman walks past the MRT Information Truck in Kuala Lumpur. Prasarana is keen to list its rail business on the stock market by 2018 when the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT system is completed.

Manager from Singapore for MRT project

Prasarana to have manager from Singapore for MRT project (The Star)

Thursday July 21, 2011

By Sharidan M. Ali
sharidan@thestar.com.my


PETALING JAYA: A high-ranking individual from Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) will soon be hired to play an active role in the project management of the planned multi-billion-ringgit mass rapid transit (MRT) system in Malaysia, sources said.

According to sources, the official is expected to join Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd, the owner of the MRT project, now known as My Rapid Transit.

“The project manager is expected to join Prasarana’s MRT project team and will work with the project delivery partner (PDP), who will manage the construction of the project for Prasarana.

“So the project manager is only an addition to the present Prasarana’s MRT project team,” sources told StarBiz.

Over the weekend, a business weekly had speculated that the MRT would have a new project manager who had been involved in Singapore’s MRT project.

The sources also told StarBiz that the roles of Prasarana, the PDP and Land Public Transport Commission in the project remained intact.

The MRT’s PDP is MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture Sdn Bhd, in which Gamuda Bhd and MMC Corp Bhd hold equal shareholdings and will be responsible for managing the project and its cost.

“The additional person, if any, is just to add more expertise to the implementation of the project and not to take over anybody’s role,” sources said.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the MRT was held early this month and the physical construction is scheduled to begin by the year-end for completion in 2016. The launch revealed the final alignment of the 51km Sungai Buloh-Kajang line, of which 9.5km will be underground. The line will have 31 stations.

The final alignment not only reduced land acquisition cost, has led to better integration with existing rail network and reduced the number of stations, but has also become more cost effective than initially planned.

Although the actual cost of the country’s first MRT system will only be disclosed in September due to a 50% reduction in land acquisition and other tweaks to the initial alignment, estimates have put the price tag for the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line at around RM20bil.

My Rapid Transit launching on July 8

Klang Valley MRT (now referred to as MyRapidTransit) will be launched by the Prime Minister at KL Convention Centre on 8 July 2011.

The launching, which will take place in the morning and will include a ground-breaking ceremony, is by invitation only.

The event will also be telecast on RTM1 from 9:30-11am. Following this launching, the public is invited to learn more about the MRT from 12:00-7:00pm at KL Convention Centre.