Thursday, February 9, 2012

Gamuda-MMC in lead for tunnelling job

By Sharen Kaur
sharen@nstp.com.my
Published in NST on February 9, 2012


Gamuda Bhd-MMC Corp Bhd has submitted the lowest bid for the underground tunnelling works, worth around RM8 billion, for the Klang Valley My Rapid Transit (KVMRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang line.




Business Times understands that tenders for the 9km tunnelling works closed on January 27, attracting five bidders, including China’s Sinohydro Group, China Railway Corp and Japan’s Taisei Corp.

MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid had said recently the company preferred local companies for the project, including the tunnelling works, unless it could not find the expertise here.

This means that Gamuda-MMC and Gadang Holdings Bhd-Hyundai will be the only two contenders to be considered for the job, leaving the Chinese and Japanese firms out.
Azhar had also said MRT Corp preferred to award the job to the lowest bidder. Sources close to MRT Corp said bids by the
five groups ranged between RM7 billion and RM12 billion and Gamuda-MMC was the lowest bidder.

“Gamuda-MMC stands a better chance to win the job. It has a seven per cent buffer on top of being the lowest bidder,” a source said.

A key official from Gamuda-MMC, who declined to be named, said the company was confident from the start that it would win the
tunnelling job.

Sources from MRT Corp said the tenders were being evaluated by Independent Consulting Engineers (ICE).

Local engineering firm HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd has a joint venture with SNC Lavalin of Canada to take on the role of ICE.
The source said the evaluation process would take about one month and the contract would be awarded earliest by end of next month.

“The government wants to speed up the award of contracts for the MRT project. It will cost the government about 15 per cent per annum if the project is delayed,” the source said.

Yesterday, SPC Industries Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned unit of Kimlun Corp Bhd, was appointed by MRT Corp to supply segmental box girders to certain packages of the MRT project for RM223.2 million.

Last month, MRT Corp awarded two construction packages worth RM1.74 billion to IJM Corp Bhd and Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd.


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