KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Putrajaya will discuss the decision to terminate MMC-Gamuda as the underground contractor for the Mass Rapid Transit Line 2 (MRT2) project, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

This comes amid claims that 20,000 employees and 600 other local companies’ source of income is at stake as a result of the termination.

The prime minister also acknowledged the possibility of mass unemployment following the government’s decision to re-tender all the unfinished underground work of the project.

“I know, we will have to discuss this,” he said briefly to reporters on the sidelines after delivering his closing address at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2018 here, today.

MMC-Gamuda, in a statement yesterday, said the move by the Finance Ministry would trigger 20,000 job losses, of which over 3,000 were MMC-Gamuda joint-venture staff.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the government was committed to lowering the costs of the project through a re-tendering exercise.

Lim recently said that the MRT2 project was expected to save RM5.22 billion or 23 per cent of the original cost for the above ground portion of the project, following the open tender exercise.

However, both the government and MMC-Gamuda failed to reach an agreement relating to the underground portion of the construction project, he said, adding that as a result, the Cabinet decided to terminate the underground contract.

Following that, Lim had said that the workers would not be out of jobs as they would be re-employed upon continuation of the project.

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