PKR has challenged George Kent Bhd to disclose if the company has been awarded a letter of intent (LOI) for the LRT extension project.

Commenting on George Kent’s refusal to confirm if it has secured the lucrative contract, PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the company was just one step away from officially getting the award.

NONE Rafizi (centre in photo) believes it was unlikely that the official award letter will be issued before the 13th general election because it will become a major campaign issue.

“But the LOI has been issued to George Kent to allow the company to undertake planning and other preparations,” he said.

Rafizi said PKR has evidence of this but would not reveal it at this point of time in order to protect its sources, who he said were already being subjected to a witch-hunt.

Other than this, Rafizi also challenged LRT owner Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd to state publicly state whether George Kent had been issued the LOI.

Yesterday, George Kent chairperson Tan Kay Hock has refused to confirm if his firm had indeed won the RM1 billion contract for the Ampang Line LRT extension project.

NONE “No, no... It’s not been awarded yet, so let’s wait for that. Let’s wait for the government to award this, it may come to us, it may not,” Tan ( right ) said yesterday, when met after the company’s annual general meeting.

Rafizi had earlier claimed that George Kent had been issued with a letter of intent , which in his view was as good as being given the letter of award for the project.

He argued that the company was not qualified for the job, and neither was it the lowest bidder, and he went on to claim that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had a hand in manipulating the outcome of the tender process.

Adding further intrigue to the controversy is an allegation that Thales International, a company linked to the France-Malaysia Scorpene submarine deal, was the “go-between” for Najib and George Kent.

Selangor urged to intervene

azlan In a related development, Rafizi announced that PKR would be urging the Selangor government to form a panel to review the LRT extension project and intervene if necessary.

He said the panel should have two scopes: Firstly, to investigate concerns about public safety, and; secondly, to ensure that a qualified contractor is appointed to undertake the project.

Since land matters come under the purview of the state, Rafizi said, Selangor was thus obliged to investigate complaints about the track alignment for the LRT extension from Putra Heights and Taman Alam Megah residents.

Putra Heights residents are crying foul over the alignment of the track that will run through a narrow 20-metre-wide strip of land between a former quarry-turned-lake and their houses, which will pose serious safety concerns.

“There is enough evidence now for the state to take belligerent steps to ensure the safety of Selangor’s citizens,” Rafizi added.

VIDEO l  6.31 mins

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