Delay in completion of KTMB Kempas Baru depot - PAC

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found a significant delay in the construction of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) Kempas Baru depot in Johor Bahru.

PAC chairman Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin said the project should have been completed on April 16, 2014, taking into account the second extension of time (EOT) after the first EOT expired on Nov 1, 2013.

He said based on the Letter of Acceptance (LOA), the depot should have been completed on July 16, 2013 within 18 months period.

He said the project was delayed because the contractors failed to give their full commitment, had not complied with the terms of the contract and had failed to identify design flaws in the electrified double tracking project which disrupted implementation on the depot construction project.

"PAC regrets that delay in the completion of this project had affected the country's image if we were to compare it with Singapore," he said in a statement here Monday in relation to Project Report on Shifting of KTMB Operation From Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands (Station), Singapore and Kempas Baru (depot), Johor Bahru which was raised in tabling of the Auditor-General's Report Year 2013 in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 10, 2014.

Hasan said former Transport Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Ismail Bakar Mohd Arif Ab Rahman had explained on the issues facing the project before the committee.

Subsequent to that he said, the committee had recommended that the Transport Ministry and KTMB complied with the circular and contract procurement process for future projects. -- Bernama