Wednesday, August 13, 2008

MRR2 Saga continues.. The Plot Thickens

PWD sues for RM74 M repairs
The Public Works Department has taken the main contractor of the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) to court for refusing to pay them a total of RM74.7 million for repairs to the cracked pillars that hold up the elevated portion of the highway in 2006.

Parliament's Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid told reporters after a PAC visit to the MRR2 repair worksite today that the case against the consortium of Sukmin-Bumihiway-KKM (Wilayah) is pending in court, and that it would be subjudice to reveal details.

He said this when asked why the consortium has refused to pay the claim.
Azmi said the breakdown of the claim is as follows:
> the original contract price of RM49.9 million
> additional works RM3.4 million
> consultation fees for Halcrow Consultancy Ltd, a British consultant and Leonhardt and Andra, a German consultant, of more than RM14 million and,
> an additional 10% of the cost for PWD site supervision and ground works which works out to RM6.8 million.
PAC members and senior officials of the PWD today visited the MRR2's pillar 28 -- where three pieces of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) straps had snapped on Aug 3 -- and assured the public that a thorough investigation is in progress to identify why this happened.
- Extracted in part from The Sun
Wait a minute! Something is not right here. PWD has already sued the original main contractor and the case is pending in court. Why the need to make this announcement through the MSM?
What does this suit has to do with this recent crack? The suit is to claim from the consortium for all the costs of repairs. Lets not get distracted by this suit thingy. It is meant to divert our attention from the real issue.
The issue here is who is suppose to be responsible for the rehabilitation work of these pillars. From what we gathered earlier, PWD has been entrusted with this responsibility. Now my question is why did PWD decide to go against the advice of Halcrow Consultancy Ltd? And how did the cost of repair ballooned up from RM18M to RM70M?
The suit and the investigation by PAC are 2 different issues. Shouldn't PAC be investigating from this perspective? The manner this investigation was conducted and the efficiency in concluding this case by PAC leaves many questions unanswered.
Lets not go into further details about the suit against the consortium for fear of subjudice.
I shall rest my case here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're right. The important issue is about who is responsible for the slipshod work on the MRR2 the last time around. And also what they are going to do to repair it now. They better make sure they carry out quality repairs this time. We can't have the busiest road in KL being closed down for repairs every once in a while.

On another note, Nat has a post about Mohd Zin (the Works Minister) suing two people for defamation.

*sigh*
All the sideshows, and we're still waiting for the main plot.

TheWhisperer said...

Michelle,

I wonder whether this Zin guy was the one at helm in PWD then. If he was, then we can piece them together.

And if you were the consortium, would you pay up knowing that this amount has ballooned up drastically.

I was involved with this type of work for almost 2 years. So, i somewhat know the culture behind all these projects. So much wastage through corruption. Oops! Commission, according to DPM.

From EPU to Ministry of Education, to Ministry of Human Resources and not to leave of Ministry of Youth and Sports. These are the ones that i have come across.

Sick culture!! They Sucks!!