Soil testing starts for ECRL — MRL

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 26): Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL), the project owner of the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, has commenced soil investigation, as well as set up base camps on multiple sites in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.

In a statement yesterday, its chief executive officer Darwis Abdul Razak said the company is now actively involved in the land acquisition processes in the east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia.

According to Darwis, the ECRL project garnered the interest of some 1,000 local engineering and construction companies of various scales to be in the running for civil works in the 688km alignment that links the Klang Valley to the east coast.

“The ECRL pre-qualification exercise to register experienced local subcontractors in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor, attracted a total of 1,118 submissions during the roadshow from Oct 15 to 23,” he said. Selangor received the highest number of submissions at 493.

He said China Communications Construction Co Ltd, as the main contractor, will shortlist the qualified subcontractors from the pre-qualification exercise to tender for the infrastructure work packages in the ECRL project, noting that the process is expected to take a few months to complete as full-scale earthworks commence in early 2018. “MRL trusts the potential companies to be shortlisted for tender would endeavour to participate in this rail project, and that together we can fully deliver the ECRL project ahead of the 2024 deadline,” Darwis also said.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Oct 26, 2017.

For more stories, download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.