Malaysia

Works Ministry orders highway authority to meet DASH concessionaire, contractors

This to ensure outstanding payments settled promptly, it says

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 18 Oct 2022 10:13PM

Works Ministry orders highway authority to meet DASH concessionaire, contractors — The Works Ministry says, in order to avoid confusion, the concessionaire, and not the government, is responsible for all payments to the contractors still unpaid for the Damansara-Shah Alam Highway. – ABDUL RAZAK LATIF/The Vibes pic, October 18, 2022

KUALA LUMPUR – The Works Ministry has instructed the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) to immediately hold a meeting with the concessionaire and main contractor, as well as subcontractors, affected by outstanding payments for the Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH).

In a statement today, the ministry said the move was to ensure all arrears are settled as soon as possible as directed by caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“The ministry is aware of the complaints of several contractors regarding late payments for DASH works. We are also aware of the contractors affected due to the arrears of the newly opened Sg Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE),” said the statement.

According to the ministry, in order to avoid confusion, the concessionaire, and not the government, is responsible for all payments to the contractors.

For the two highways in question, the DASH and SUKE concessionaire is Prolintas (Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd), said the statement.

The ministry said under the concession agreement signed, LLM has the regulatory authority to audit the budget for the highway and to intervene.

Earlier today, Ismail Sabri ordered that any debt related to the DASH Highway project, which was opened recently, needed to be cleared.

He said this when commenting on the issue of alleged unpaid arrears to a number of subcontractors of the DASH project amounting to more than RM80 million, which caused the subcontractors involved with the project to experience difficulties.

The 20.1km-long DASH Highway with 13 exits and interchanges was opened at 12.01am last Friday.

The 13 intersections are Puncak Perdana, Alam Suria, Denai Alam, Kg Melayu Subang, Pinggiran Subang, Subang Dua, Subang Airport, RRIM (Kwasa Damansara), Surian, Section 5 Kota Damansara, Sunway Damansara, Damansara Perdana, and Penchala.

It connects three major highways, namely the Guthrie Corridor Expressway, LDP (Damansara-Puchong Expressway), and SPRINT (Western Kuala Lumpur Traffic Dispersal Scheme). – Bernama, October 18, 2022