|
|
cite monorail... dah tamatkan contract nmpknya
Newsbreak: Prasarana close to terminating Scomi Engineering contract
Jose Barrock
The Edge Malaysia July 10, 201
PRASARANA Malaysia Bhd is close to terminating a RM494 million contract for its Monorail Fleet Expansion Project awarded to Scomi Engineering Bhd (SEB) in December 2010, sources say.
It is understood that the Prasarana board has met on this matter and a decision will be made pretty soon.
The contract with SEB entails replacing the existing 12 sets of two-car trains with a new fleet of 12 sets of four-car trains, which would double the monorail’s passenger capacity.
The main grouse is that the contract was supposed to be for a duration of 31 months, to be completed by end-July 2013, but many aspects remain unfinished. Some key milestones stated in the contract had not been met as at March 31 last year.
On June 9, 2016, SEB received a notice from Prasarana that gave the rail company 14 days from the notice date to renew a performance bond connected with the project, failing which the contract would be terminated.
SEB initiated legal proceedings and on June 21 last year, the High Court granted an interim order and injunction restraining Prasarana from terminating the contract.
In 2010, when the contract was awarded, the monorail was already running at 35% overcapacity, which means that the situation would have worsened now.
Other aspects of the contract involve the upgrading of electrical and mechanical systems, ensuring the 11 stations served can accommodate the longer trains and the building of a new depot and stabling yard.
Prasarana and SEB declined to comment when contacted by The Edge.
“From what we hear, Prasarana is looking to start all over again from square one — award another company the contract and terminate Scomi Engineering — but some board members feel SEB should be given another chance as it is, after all, a Malaysian company,” the source says.
Some sources say Prasarana has held talks with certain Japanese and Chinese companies to supply the trains, but how far the discussions have progressed is any-one’s guess.
A source close to Prasarana says it is just taking too long for the contract to be completed.
“Scomi [Engineering] was supposed to deliver the coaches in mid-2013 if I am not mistaken … that was four years ago. So, should Prasarana be so patient? Many other projects mooted after the fleet expansion programme have been concluded … this looks really bad,” the source says.
An engineer previously involved in the contract says many issues cropped up that caused the delays, and more often than not, it was not the fault of either SEB or Prasarana.
“First, it was tough because it was a brownfield project so there could be no interruption of the normal running of the monorail. There were many issues. For instance, there was a one-year delay for temples to be relocated and a delay of over 800 days as there was no access to the stations to do work on them.
“There was a sinkhole, [which was] a subcontractor issue that delayed the project for another 300-odd days and there were issues with the relocation of a sewerage plant. There was a long list of delays, and this being a design-and-build contract, Scomi’s (Engineering) cash flow is directly linked to the project, so of course if there are problems, every delay costs money,” he says.
Over the past eight financial years, SEB has only managed one profitable year. For the year ended March 2017 (FY2017), SEB suffered a net loss of RM19.76 million from RM162.88 million in revenue.
In its notes that accompany its financials, SEB says it “is currently in litigation relating to the termination of the Kuala Lumpur Monorail Fleet Expansion Project … (and) continues to pursue its extension of time and variation order claims and all other claims in line with its entitlements”.
As at end-March this year, the company had short-term deposits, cash and bank balances of RM38.45 million. SEB had receivables, deposits and pre-payments of RM797.62 million.
On the other side of the balance sheet, SEB had short-term loans and borrowings of RM406.67 million and long-term debt commitments of RM118.97 million. To put things in perspective, the rail company had accumulated losses of RM152.78 million.
Prasarana, a unit of the Ministry of Finance, suffered an after-tax loss of RM1.25 billion from RM756.58 million in revenue for its financial year ended December 2015.
As at end-December 2015, Prasarana had non-current assets of RM18.8 billion, current assets amounting to RM1.46 billion, long-term debt of RM15.64 billion and current liabilities of RM3.52 billion.
As at end-December 2015, Prasarana had negative reserves of RM6.21 billion.
A market watcher suggests that the two companies put aside their egos and their legal wrangling and try to solve the issue amicably. “After all, it’s a government project for the people,” he says. |
|
Post time 11-7-2017 04:25 PM
