KVDT2 contractor granted leave to challenge project termination by govt

 

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today granted leave to contractor Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd for a judicial review to challenge the government's decision to terminate the contract of Klang Valley Double Tracking 2 (KVDT2) rail project.

Justice Noorin Badaruddin made the decision after hearing submissions from both parties.

The government and the transport minister were named as the defendants in the judicial review application, which was filed on Sept 3, 2020.

Dhaya Maju LTAT was seeking a court declaration that Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong's decision to cancel the KVDT2 contract and to reopen the tender as null and void.

"She (Noorin) also allowed a stay on the government’s decision to call for a public tender pending the disposal of our judicial review,” Dhaya Maju LTAT's lawyer Lim Chee Wee was quoted as saying by news portal FMT.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambali submitted on behalf of the government.

Dhaya Maju LTAT also wanted the court to compel the government to execute all documents and agreements.

In his submission, Lim said judicial review concerns matters related to misfeasance in public office and that aggrieved parties have the right to challenge it.

"The misfeasance by the minister (Wee) is in the context of his decision-making in relation to the impugned decision. (It is also about) his failure to consider numerous factors as well as his unreasonable reliance on the Opus report," he said.

Lim was referring to a professional project review by consulting company Opus Consultants.

Hanir submitted that the tort of misfeasance pleaded by Dhaya Maju LTAT in this contractual dispute was not suitable to be tried via judicial review.

“The (minister’s) decision is clearly a contractual decision provided for under the contract. It does not infuse a public element to warrant it to be amenable to judicial review,” he said.

Prior to this, Dhaya Maju LTAT had filed two lawsuits against the government, claiming that the termination was unlawful.

In August 2020, Wee announced that the government would reopen the tender for the KVDT2 rail project, alleging that investigations found the RM4.475 billion price tag for the project was too high, despite cost-cutting measures made by the previous Pakatan Harapan administration.

The project came into the spotlight after Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz revealed details of the 101 contracts that were purportedly awarded through a direct negotiation process during the time Pakatan Harapan was in power.

KVDT2 is the largest contract, in terms of value, on the list. - Mkini