KUALA LUMPUR – A meeting between China Railway 17th Bureau Group (M) Sdn Bhd (CRCC17) and the group of aggrieved subcontractors over packages GS05 and GS06 of the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project has been described as fruitful and making headway.
According to sources, CRCC17, which is based in China, has expressed its commitment to settle its payments in the near future to the subcontractors involved in the construction of the project who have not yet received their payments.
He said this commitment was expressed during a meeting yesterday.
The positive development will see a solution to the payment arrears issue starting next week.
“This meeting yielded results and was viewed as quite positive. For us (subcontractors involved), at least we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“For CCRC17, as the main subcontractor, to give that statement shows that they are very committed to resolving this crisis,” a source was quoted as saying by Getaran, the Malay language sister portal of The Vibes.
At the same time, it is learnt that some of the affected subcontractors have already been contacted by CRCC17 to discuss their respective payment solutions.
“Next week, the ‘boss’ of CRCC17 will participate in a meeting with all the subcontractors involved,” said a source.
It is understood that LRT operator Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, a government-owned entity, and project contractor Setia Utama LRT 3 Sdn Bhd (SULRT3) will help arrange the meeting.
“This means that the solution to this issue will start taking effect next week,” he added.
The source further said that the efforts are now entering a more positive phase and he hopes that the situation will move in a better direction.
Getaran contacted Chandran K., one of the subcontractors who attended the meeting, who confirmed the results of the discussion in the meeting.
“This meeting is an initiative by Prasarana and SULRT3. We see that it is progressing positively and hopefully all issues can be resolved as best as possible later,” he said.
Previously, Getaran had reported SULRT3 as confirming that it had made payments to all contractors according to the set time.
SULRT3 said this in a statement commenting on the protest held by the subcontractors, following the appointment of two new contractors RKR Bina Sdn Bhd and Apex Communications Sdn. Bhd.
The company explained that the recent protest was against non-payment by CRCC17, the main subcontractor appointed by Apex Communications and RKR Bina. – The Vibes, September 23, 2022
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