Dhaya Maju LTAT submits fresh proposal for Klang Valley Double Track Phase 2

KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd has submitted a new proposal to Putrajaya “in a bid to win back the Klang Valley Double Track Phase 2 (KVDT2) contract”, reported The Edge Malaysia in its latest issue.

“We have held discussions with various parties involved in the KVDT2 project, including the Ministry of Transport (MoT). We have given our proposal to the government, taking into account the present situation,” Dhaya Maju LTAT director Datuk Seri Subramaniam Pillai told the weekly.

It was also reported that the proposal comes with two options, but Subramaniam did not go into details, only saying: “We leave it to the government to make a decision on our latest submission.”

The previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration at Putrajaya awarded the contract valued at RM5.265 billion to Dhaya Maju LTAT on April 4 last year.

The deal was terminated by the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in September owing to the exorbitant cost and “the manner” in which it was awarded (direct negotiation).

The new government was also not happy with the seven-year completion period given to the company, which was deemed too long.

Subramaniam explained to the business publication that under the earlier proposal presented to the BN government, Dhaya Maju LTAT wanted to complete the project in five years.

Owing to budgetary issues, the BN administration went for the seven-year option.

The company, however, told the PH government “that it can complete the job in five years, provided it gets stakeholders’ support”.

Subramaniam said KVDT2, being a brownfield project, would cost more

“The Klang Valley rail tracks are 25 years old. You need to replace the entire track with new higher grade rails and ballast, carry out soil treatment and improve the drainage to ensure a safe and smooth train ride. To say that you only need to treat the problem areas and that the reduced-to-necessity scope will result in savings is completely misleading,” he explained further.

Subramaniam also added that Dhaya Maju LTAT’s RM5.265 billion “cost for KVDT2 is based on the 2007 price benchmark of the Ipoh-Padang Besar double-track project”.

“We firmly believe, based on current rates, the cost would be above RM7 billion if the government calls for a fresh tender,” he said.