KUALA LUMPUR – The turnkey contractor for the Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3) project has rebutted claims by Prasarana Malaysia Bhd that the national transport operator had no knowledge of the RM700 million owed for works done.
MRCB-George Kent Sdn Bhd said Prasarana’s payments, amounting to RM3.47 billion as of October 2 last year, were for works done ending June.
“Prasarana’s delayed payments of more than RM700 million were from July 2020 to October 2020, which have been certified for payment by Prasarana’s appointed independent consultant, KL Prima Consult Sdn Bhd.
“As of October 2020, the certified payment amount was RM723.89 million, while the November 2020 payment is still pending certification.
“In the meantime, MRCB-George Kent has advanced more than RM200 million to sustain the LRT3 project. Both MRCB and George Kent have given a corporate guarantee to Prasarana and issued a paid-up capital of RM5 million each,” said the company in a statement tonight.
Earlier today, Prasarana chairman Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said the firm paid the sum to MRCB-George Kent in early October, in response to allegations that the transport company is withholding payments for works done.
“As of October 2, MRCB-George Kent has been paid RM3.468 billion for completed works. We received two invoices subsequent to that, on October 8 and November 8, respectively, amounting to RM328 million. We are conducting a due diligence process to ensure we have healthy cash flow before processing the payment.”
Appeal letters from 17 contractors and consulting firms involved in LRT3 were sent on December 30 to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, seeking help for payments of more than RM700 million withheld by Prasarana.
But, the demand for the RM700 million “should have been sent to MRCB-George Kent in the first place. We don’t pay the subcontractors directly. We are aware of the letter, but we are not aware of the payment process between the turnkey contractor and subcontractors”, said Prasarana’s deputy chief communications and marketing officer, Rafizah Amran.
Tajuddin added that Prasarana did not withhold any payment to MRCB-George Kent, and that “every time they claimed, we would pay without hesitation”.
MRCB-George Kent said the LRT3 Work Package Contractors’ (WPC) contracts were awarded via open tender in 2016.
“The successful bidders, including Bumiputera contractors, were novated to MRCB-George Kent as WPC in 2019. We have treated our WPC fairly by applying the contract rates as stipulated in the original contract with Prasarana.”
MCRB-George Kent said it exceeded the minimum 30% Bumiputera quota by having 39.7% Bumiputera contractors in the LRT3 project.
“The breakdown of our contractors is as follows: local (52%), Bumiputera (40%) and foreign (8%).”
The project’s overall line-wide progress was 45.8% as of December 31. The project hires 21 main contractors and consultants, as well as 10,000 employees. – The Vibes, January 4, 2021
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