Friday, March 11, 2011

SPNB: LRT extension costs to stay within RM7b

KUALA LUMPUR: Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) said the costs for the extensions of the Kelana Jaya light rail transit (LRT) line and the Ampang LRT line would not exceed the RM7 billion budget.

SPNB group director of project development division, Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff said on Friday, March 11 that RM2 billion had been raised so far and the remaining RM5 billion sukuk would be 'raised in 2012 and so on'.

'We are confident the RM7 billion will not be exceeded,' he said at a briefing to update the media on the CONSTRUCTION [] of the LRT extension projects.

As for the completion date for the extensions, he said: 'The target completion date would be early 2014. The revenue service date, which is the date when it is opened to passengers, would be by mid-2014.'

Zulkifli said work on the extension of the Kelana Jaya LRT line and the Ampang LRT line are expected to pick up pace''by end-March.

'Currently advance works are being carried out for the Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines,' he said.

Zulkifli said These involve the relocation of telecommunication cables, TENAGA NASIONAL BHD [] (TNB) low voltage (underground) cables, high voltage transmission lines, water mains and sewerage pipes, as well as gas pipelines.

'About15%of the advance works for the Kelana Jaya line extension, and about 30% of the works for the Ampang line extension are completed,' he said. The site possession for Gas Malaysia's relocation is pending due to the land acquisition process, he added.

The facilities works involve the construction of the infrastructure components such as the guide way, piers and stations, as well as the casting and delivery of segmental box girders for both lines.

Zulkifli said for facilities works, the site possession for Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines were on Jan 20 and Feb 23, 2011 respectively.

'However, target to commence physical works will be at the end of March 2011 subject to the approval of development orders and work permits of local authorities,' he added.

He said the projects obtained sectional final approval in 2010. For the Kelana Jaya line extension, the approval is to station 10 while the approval for the Ampang line extension is station 11.

He explained the contract for facilities work was via packages A and B. For the Kelana Jaya Line, package A is for facilities work from Kelana Jaya to station 7 which was 9.2km. The Ampang line package A is from Sri Petaling station to station 5, covering 7.4km,

Zulkifli said the tender for the facilities works under package B would be closed for submission in March 1. He added it would take two to three months to evaluate and then to be submitted to the Finance Minister.

He said package B for the Kelana Jaya Line would be from station 7 to Putra Heights covering 7.8km. The Ampang Line would cover 10.3km, which would be from station 5 to Putra Heights.

As for the fares, he said the proposal was that they would be maintained, depending on the distance travelled. However, there could be a review of the fares later.

To recap, SPNB is a wholly-owned government company set up by the Finance Ministry to undertake public infrastructure projects. SPNB owns and operates several public transport providers, which are the Ampang and Kelana Jaya lines, KL Monorail system and the bus operation in the Klang Valley and Penang.

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