MRT Corp appoints HSS JV as project management consultant for MRT3 project

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 4): Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has appointed the joint venture entity of HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd and HSS Engineering Sdn Bhd as the project management consultant (PMC) for the MRT3 project for a contract sum of RM997.9 million.

In a statement on Thursday evening, MRT Corp said the PMC was selected after an open tender exercise that saw the participation of 13 companies through five consortiums, and that the final selection was approved by the MRT3 One-Stop Procurement Committee chaired by the Finance Minister.

Apart from technical and commercial submissions, the bidders also had to submit a proposal for economic enhancement programs and a response to various implementation and engineering solutions. This rigorous and multi-pronged evaluation is to ensure that the PMC has the relevant experience and demonstrated capabilities to undertake a transformational approach in delivering this major national infrastructure project, according to MRT Corp.

“Besides assisting MRT Corp, we also expect the PMC to serve the needs of the civil and system work package contractors too so that we can work together effectively to deliver the project,” said MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim.

“All parties’ interests must be aligned to deliver the common objectives. The responsibility to synchronise construction work activities has been tasked to the PMC. The PMC will be given targets and KPIs, with a penalty for not meeting them,” he added.

Meanwhile, MRT Corp has extended the deadline for technical submissions for two civil main contractor (CMC) packages — CMC302 and CMC303 — under MRT3 to Sept 30 from Aug 2 due to overwhelming response, which pushes back the full tender submissions for these packages to Sept 30.

"The deadline for CMC301 full tender submission remains unchanged on Aug 30, 2022," MRT Corp said.

There will be four work packages under MRT3, also known as MRT Circle Line, three of which are the CMC packages above, while one is a systems turnkey contractor package.

Despite the deadline extension, MRT Corp said the open tender process for the project is on track and progressing well.

“MRT Corp expects the construction cost of the MRT3 Project to be competitive and comparable to the cost of MRT Putrajaya Line Project. This open tender exercise is intended to attract the most competitive bids," said Zarif.

“The new approach in project delivery and contracting strategy is a culmination of a decade’s worth of experience of MRT Corp as the asset owner and project developer.

“We believe this approach will be a growth impetus for the construction and rail industries. Local companies, particularly Bumiputera-owned, now have an opportunity to be in an ecosystem, where expertise, skills, and technology can be cross-fertilized,” Zarif said.

It was reported on Tuesday that Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, via a written reply, told Dewan Rakyat that the MRT3 Project was estimated to cost RM50.2 billion, of which RM34.3 billion would be for construction, RM8.4 billion for land acquisition, RM5.6 billion for project management and RM1.9 billion for other costs.

The actual cost of the 51km alignment, however, would only be finalised on completion of the open tender, he added.