George Kent (M) Bhd is optimistic the Pakatan Harapan government will appreciate the company’s expertise as a rail systems specialist, although it has been long perceived as a BN-friendly company.
“If the current government does not like us, it would not have allowed us to continue with the Light Railway Transit 3 (LRT 3) project,” said independent non- executive director Keizrul Abdullah.
George Kent is labelled a “crony” of the previous BN-led government, as it is a known fact that chairperson Tan Kay Hock, who controls 42.21 percent of the company’s equity, was a golfing buddy of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
However, Keizrul discounted the notion that the chairperson’s close relationship with Najib would be a stumbling block for the company to secure future projects from the present government.
“People always assumed that we secured our past jobs because of the ‘BN connection’.
“In fact, we secured all our jobs, including our first megaproject, the Ampang-Line LRT extension, via an open tender instead of negotiated contracts,” he told Bernama.
There was a massive "selldown" of George Kent’s shares after the 37-km long LRT 3 project was put on hold as the present government wanted to review it after it came to power after the 14th general election in May last year.
However, the cabinet gave its greenlight, in July last year, for the project to continue but at a revised cost of RM16.63 billion, slashing 47 percent off from the earlier estimated cost of RM31.65 billion.
Fixed-price contract
On Jan 25, George Kent, via MRCB George Kent Sdn Bhd, its joint venture (JV) company with Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB), entered into a fixed-price contract with Prasarana Malaysia Bhd for the LRT 3 project.
In November 2018, the JV company bagged an RM11.86 billion contract to build the LRT 3 project from Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya to Johan Setia in Klang.
Asked if the company was “happy” with the contract value of RM11.86 billion, Keizrul said that no contractor would ever be satisfied with “devalued” prices.
“The new government doesn’t want a 'project-delivery-partner' model. So, we negotiated with them to meet their requirement. The government wants to make the LRT3 a lump sum project and we had to finally agree with the sum.
“Of course, we think we deserve more, maybe the finance minister doesn’t think we deserve so much,” he said in jest.
Commenting on the "keep-in-view" Mass Rapid Transit (MRT 3) or MRT Circle Line, Keizrul was optimistic that the project would eventually go on.
“It is just a matter of time, as everyone in the industry understands that we need a circular line to link the current systems in the Klang Valley, including the LRT, LRT3, MRT and MRT2,” he said.
The 40-km long MRT3 is also among the casualties that were derailed by the Harapan government after the election, given its hefty construction cost estimated at a whopping RM50 billion.
Keizrul believed once the LRT3 project was completed in 2024, the next project (to go on) would be the MRT3.
“When the tender opens for the project, George Kent will bid for it as we are good enough to take it,” he said with confidence.
Other than the LRT3 and MRT3 projects, George Kent also entered into a collaboration with four foreign companies in February last year to form a consortium to bid for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project.
But after the election, the new government put the project on hold following a review of its exorbitant cost.
On May 8, 2018, the last trading day before the general election, George Kent’s share price stood at RM3.94 but it eroded 71.57 percent over the past eight months, indeed a roller coaster ride.
It closed at RM1.12 per share on Jan 25.
- Bernama
