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Local contractors pre-qualified for ECRL civil works

A total of 331 Malaysian construction companies have pre-qualified as potential tenderers for the civil works packages of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) said in statement.

These 331 companies—of which 234, or 70.7 per cent, are Bumiputera companies—were shortlisted out of 1,321 companies by a pre-Q evaluation committee, comprising representatives from MRL and China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC), following detailed evaluation of each entity’s track record, financial capabilities, technical personnel and plant & equipment.

All shortlisted companies are expected to be notified in writing before end-August 2019 by CCCC, the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) contractor for the project. Tenders will be called continuously throughout the construction period, from the fourth quarter of 2019 onwards.

The 640-km rail network is scheduled for completion by December 2026 and expected to link Kota Bharu to Putrajaya in about four hours.

The tender packages for civil works would start from the 223-km stretch of Dungun, Terengganu to Mentakab, Pahang where the rail alignment had been finalised, said MRL CEO Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak. Further tenders will be called once the re-alignment from Kota Bharu to Dungun and between Mentakab and Port Klang are firmed up.

The end-2026 completion date is also contingent on the effective participation of local contractors in ECRL’s civil works, which includes earthworks, foundation works, structural works, soil improvement works and road works, he added.

The signing of a supplementary agreement between MRL and CCCC on April 12, 2019 paved the way for the resumption of the ECRL project following its suspension on July 3, 2018.

The new deal, among others, saw the construction cost of the ECRL reduced to RM44 billion from RM65.5 billion, while the portion for local participation in the ECRL civil works rose to 40 pre cent from 30 per cent previously. CCCC will honour the respective contracts of local companies that were appointed prior to the project suspension, according to MRL. — Construction+ Online