KUALA LUMPUR – The government appears to have washed its hands of a dispute between Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) and subcontractors who have yet to be paid for completing the Damansara Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH).
Business weekly The Edge quoted caretaker Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof as saying that the government will not intervene in the dispute due to contractual and legal issues.
“It involves contractual issues. A contractor was terminated due to underperformance. It is a legal issue that we can’t intervene in,” Fadillah was quoted as saying.
Adding that the government cannot intervene because DASH is a private project not funded by the government, Fadillah said the issue of unpaid subcontractors is now a matter for them to sort out with the main contractor.
“I was told the main contractor was duly paid for all work done,” he was quoted as saying.
Fadillah’s reasoning may not go down well with the subcontractors.
The RM4.2 billion DASH highway is owned by Prolintas while the main contractor Turnpike Synergy Sdn Bhd is a wholly owned unit of Prolintas.
Prolintas itself is owned by Permodalan Nasional Bhd – which is state-owned.
The subcontractors are still owed RM80 million from the RM100 million that they are claiming. This could mean an acknowledgement of monies owed by Turnpike Synergy. Fadillah’s comments are bound to pour cold water on the expectations of the subcontractors who were hoping for a resolution following caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s comments two weeks ago for the matter to be resolved. Ismail Sabri had asked why they had yet to be paid.
The subcontractors have come together as Melima Consortium. They comprise Pembinaan Melima (M) Sdn Bhd; Tropical Profile (M) Sdn Bhd; Pembinaan Tin Chai Sdn Bhd; and Prosper Apex Sdn Bhd.
Melima Consortium, which is responsible for Package CA4 out of the project’s eight work packages, came into the picture in 2019 when Panzana Enterprise Sdn Bhd was terminated.
The four Melima Consortium subcontractors were already doing work subbed to them by Panzana when Turnpike Synergy took over.
The four subcontractors continued working without a fresh contract with the former and according to them had completed 85% of the work before Panzana was fired.
The Works Ministry had on October 18 said in a statement that the concessionaire Projek Lintasan Damansara-Shah Alam Sdn Bhd is responsible for all payments.
It said it had instructed the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) to hold meetings with all parties involved to come to a resolution.
They are expected to meet MHA on October 27, following a written request by Melima Consortium. – The Vibes, October 24, 2022
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