Govt seeks out-of-court settlement with KVDT2 contractor
PARLIAMENT | The government has agreed to negotiate an out-of-court settlement following civil actions taken over its move to reopen tender for the Klang Valley Double Tracking 2 (KVDT2) project.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Takiyuddin Hassan (above) said the cabinet had last Friday agreed for the Transport Ministry to pursue discussions with Dhaya Maju-LTAT Sdn Bhd (DM-LTAT), the project's original contractor.
"In this case, I would like to stress that in any civil cases, the government is willing to negotiate an amicable settlement out of...
PARLIAMENT | The government has agreed to negotiate an out-of-court settlement following civil actions taken over its move to reopen tender for the Klang Valley Double Tracking 2 (KVDT2) project.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Takiyuddin Hassan (above) said the cabinet had last Friday agreed for the Transport Ministry to pursue discussions with Dhaya Maju-LTAT Sdn Bhd (DM-LTAT), the project's original contractor.
"In this case, I would like to stress that as in any civil cases, the government is willing to negotiate an amicable settlement out of court.
"Last Friday, the cabinet agreed for the company to negotiate with the Transport Ministry and find a win-win settlement," the de facto law minister said in response to Anthony Loke (Harapan-Seremban) during Question Time today.
Loke, who was the former transport minister during Pakatan Harapan's administration, had questioned whether the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was open to renegotiations with DM-LTAT (as Harapan was in the past) and in turn, avoid resolving the matter in court.
Takiyuddin said the government is now faced with three separate actions filed by the company, including a claim for damages over an alleged breach of contract.
DM-LTAT had in September filed a lawsuit to prevent the PN government from terminating its contract, after previously stressing that there was no basis for the move.
The original KVDT2 project spans 110km, involving two KTM railway tracks – one from Salak South to Seremban and the other from a point between Kuala Lumpur Sentral and Angkasapuri to Port Klang.
The BN-era project was halted and renegotiated via direct tender with DM-LTAT during Harapan's time, at a lower cost and shorter completion time of five years for more than double the scope of work to cover 265km of railway tracks.
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong on Aug 28 announced that the government will reopen bidding for the KVDT2 project, based on results of extensive study and investigation which found that the cost of the renegotiated project during Harapan's administration was still overpriced.
Wee at the time reportedly said that the Harapan government had on July 5, 2019, decided to continue the project with DM-LTAT at a 15 percent reduced cost from RM5.265 billion to RM4.475 billion, or a reduction of RM789.75 million.
However, he said Harapan's decision purportedly did not take into account findings of a Transport Ministry commissioned Professional Review Report done in October, 2018, which concluded that the project actually costs RM3.398 billion based on DM-LTAT's original scope of work.
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