PUTRAJAYA – The Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) project has received the cabinet’s greenlight to proceed, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
Loke said that work for the project is expected to commence later this year, with the LRT line targeted to be operational in 2030.
The minister also said that the federal government has agreed to appoint MRT Corp, a company fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc), as the project developer and asset owner.
The project, Loke said, will be split into three components, with the first segment involving contracts for civil works as part of the line from Silicon Island to Komtar, George Town.
“SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd will be offered this contract through a single-sourcing request for proposal mechanism,” Loke told a press conference at his ministry’s complex, here today.
“This offer is based on a request from the Penang state government, which appointed SRS Consortium as its project delivery partner for the Penang Transport Master Plan, including the Penang LRT line, through an open tender in August 2015.”
Loke added that the total cost of the project can only be determined once MRT Corp and SRS Consortium had completed their negotiations. He said they had been given six months to hold the negotiations.
“The federal government has no obligation to the SRS Consortium,” Loke stressed.
“We decided to offer them (SRS Consortium) the contract as there might be legal implications between them and the Penang state administration if the company is not offered the contract once the federal government takes over the project.”
Contracts for the second and third components of the project will be awarded to a company based on open-tender bids, with the second segment covering the line from Komtar to Penang Sentral, while the other involves systems and rolling stock.
Besides that, Loke said that the federal government’s decision to take over the Penang LRT project came with the condition that the project would have to reduce its land-reclamation activities.
“Before this, there were three islands under the Silicon Valley that had to undergo the reclamation process, but the federal government has asked the state administration to only reclaim one of the islands,” he said.
He also explained that the state government, which had been carrying out land acquisition works to facilitate the project, had budgeted and minimised the area of buildings involved in the process after consultations with various stakeholders.
Loke added that the Penang LRT project was expected to allow citizens to travel more efficiently while reducing dependence on personal vehicles and carbon emissions. – March 29, 2024