81 Bumi contractors involved in ECRL, Tajuddin told

 

A total of 81 Bumiputera companies, made up of 43 contractors, two consultant firms, and 36 vendors and suppliers, had won contracts for jobs in the ECRL project, says transport ministry. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The transport ministry has rebutted claims that there are no Bumiputera contractors involved in the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), stating that there are 81 such firms working on the mega project.

Responding to an allegation by Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) at the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday that the participation of Bumiputera contractors in the project was “non-existent”, the ministry said the claim was “less than accurate”.

On Tuesday, Tajuddin had prodded transport minister Wee Ka Siong on the alleged non-participation of Bumiputera contractors in the ECRL.

“The participation of Bumiputera contractors in the project is non-existent,” said the former Prasarana chairman. “There isn’t any. Please look into it.”

The ministry, however, dismissed his claim in a statement.

“As at Aug 31, 81 Bumiputera-majority companies have taken part in the project with a value of RM320 million,” it said.

“This constitutes 10.67% of the entire project’s planned RM3 billion in total Bumiputera participation value.

“This fact should be seen in the context of the RM50.3 billion project’s progress as informed (in) Parliament yesterday, which currently stands at 23.96% as at Aug 31.”

The ministry said the 81 Bumiputera companies successfully passed pre-qualifying exercises done in 2017 and 2019 and won their contracts through bids with the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) main contractor.

The 81 Bumiputera companies are made up of 43 contractors, two consultant firms, and 36 vendors and suppliers.

The ministry said that as a whole, local participation in ECRL was valued at RM4.59 billion from a planned total of RM10 billion (45.9%), with 1,368 companies participating.

It also noted that the effective participation rate of Bumiputera companies in the ECRL will be raised from 30% to 32.9%, which is a “commendable commitment” by the main EPCC contractor to raise the percentage of local and Bumiputera participation in the mega project.

The ministry added it aims to develop the capabilities of local companies so that they can compete equally with foreign players in bidding for mega projects. - FMT