By EDY SARIF
PETALING JAYA: The status of Pahang-Selangor interstate raw water transfer project that costs nearly RM9bil is still uncertain despite some parts of it having already been awarded.
On Thursday, JAKS Resources Bhd and IJM Corp Bhd announced that their 40:60 joint venture had won a contract for the Semantan pipeline and related works worth about RM268mil under the project.
An analyst told StarBiz that the contracts awarded so far were for the Pahang portion as the Selangor government had said it would not proceed with the construction of the Langat River 2 water treatment plant.
The bulk of the project worth RM2bil (Langat 2 water treatment plant) is in Selangor and it will be meaningless to build all the pipelines if they can't be connected to the water treatment plant.
The Selangor government needs to reach an agreement with the Federal Government or the project is not going anywhere, he said.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui was reported to have said recently that the delay in implementing the project could cause losses for the Federal Government and affect job opportunities and development programmes for the people.
The project, which was scheduled to be completed by the middle of 2014, has now been put on hold as the Federal Government had failed to get the cooperation of the Selangor government.
Residents in the Klang Valley and Putrajaya will face water shortages as early as 2014 if the project is not completed.
Although we have different views and political aspirations, I hope the Selangor government would be more concerned about the welfare of the people in the state, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and cooperate in the prompt implementation of this project, Chin said.
AmResearch said the latest contract awarded represented the third major one for the Pahang portion of the project after the tunnelling package (RM1.3bil) and Semantan intake pumping station and related works (RM318mil).
The status of the project is still evolving due to uncertainties surrounding the restructuring of Selangor's fragmented water industry, it said in a note yesterday.
The research house, however, believed a successful rollout of the latest package could put both IJM and JAKS in a position to also bid for piping works under Langat 2 (the Selangor portion of the project) worth RM800mil to RM900mil.
We gather that the Langat 2 works packages would have been awarded by the end of first-half 2011, assuming the lead time to construct the treatment plant is three years, it said.
OSK Research believed that the next package to be dished out is for Kelau Dam in Pahang worth RM200mil to RM250mil, possibly early next year.
Tenders for Kelau Dam have closed and most of the usual construction suspects' have submitted their bids, it said in a note yesterday. - The Star
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