MRT underground package awarded to MMC-Gamuda

The consortium was selected based on its strengths, says MRT Corp.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) announced today the award of the underground package of the MY Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang line to a joint venture comprising MMC Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd (MMC-Gamuda JV).

The decision was made at a One-Stop Procurement Committee (OSPC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak yesterday.

“We are committed towards ensuring the success of the MRT project. The award shows that the MRT construction work is gaining momentum as we strive to deliver the project within the targeted time and cost,” MRT Corp’s chief executive officer, Azhar Abdul Hamid, said in a statement here.

“The tunnelling works will require underground work on an unprecedented scale. It is the single largest package of the MRT that makes up 30% to 40% of the total project cost.

“The award of the underground package will create numerous job opportunities within Malaysia,” he added.

The statement also said the MMC-Gamuda JV was selected based on the consortium’s strengths in design, construction plant and tunnelling equipment, tunnelling and station construction methodology, especially in the challenging karstic limestone formation, and for the construction plan and resources it committed.

The MMC-Gamuda JV also stood out because of its past experience in handling underground works in the same ground conditions and for putting together the same team which handled the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) project.

The statement said the consortium also offered the most competitive price at RM8.2 billion to design and build the 9.5km MRT underground tunnel and seven underground stations.

Works for the underground package will be directly supervised by MRT Corp.

Stringent set of criteria

The MMC-Gamuda JV was one of five companies or joint ventures which pre-qualified under a stringent set of criteria to tender the underground package of the MRT project.

The other tenderers were Hyundai-Gadang-Chengal Jaya Joint Venture, Taisei Corp, Sinohydro Group Ltd, and the China Railway Group Ltd.

All five participated when tenders opened on Oct 27, 2011.

The final evaluation showed that MMC-Gamuda JV was the tenderer who offered the best technical criteria and bid which was 3.4% lower than the second lowest offer.

Tenders closed on Jan 27, 2012.

The MRT project is the nation’s largest public infrastructure project and is a key enabler to achieving the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley National Key Economic Area (NKEA) goal of propelling Kuala Lumpur into the top 20 most liveable and economically vibrant cities in the world by 2020.

Bernama