The Star 21/07/09
BUKIT MERTAJAM: Penangites can heave a sigh of relief as the shelved RM1.2bil Mengkuang Dam expansion project has been reinstated in the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said the project was expected to begin as early as this October and be completed by 2013.
“It will proceed once all necessary tender and documentation processes are sorted out in the next three months,” he said after visiting the dam here yesterday.
Chin said the project, which would be carried out in two phases, was vital to increase the state’s water capacity, which was approaching a critical stage.
He added that the expansion would increase the dam’s capacity from 23 million cubic metres now to 78 million cubic metres, which would be able to meet the state’s water needs until 2020.
“The Federal Government felt it was necessary to carry out this project with the co-operation of the state, especially the Penang Water Supply Corporation Sdn Bhd,” he said.
Chin said the
first phase would cover the principal work to widen and increase the dam’s height, while the
second phase involved the construction of a 13km-long dual-flow steel pipe between the dam and the Sungai Dua water treatment plant.
He said raw water from the Muda River would be pumped into the dam for storage via the pipe, at about 440 million litres a day, during the rainy season between April and December. Chin added that raw water from the dam would be pumped through the pipe at a maximum capacity of 1.114bil litres a day, back to the Sungai Dua treatment plant during the drought from January to March to make up for the low water supply from the Muda River. He said an additional 9km-long perimeter road would be built around the dam, similar to the one at the Air Itam Dam, for public recreation.
Last August, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had said the state would face a water crisis by 2012 if the Mengkuang Dam expansion project did not start by this year.
The dam’s expansion was among three mega projects in Penang worth a total of RM4.7bil shelved during the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan in June last year because of the global economic slowdown. The other two projects were the RM1.5bil Penang Outer Ring Road and the RM2bil Penang monorail.
Showing posts with label Penang Monoral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penang Monoral. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Putera Capital bidding for RM9b local jobs
By Zurinna Raja Adam
Published: 2008/11/29
DESPITE its status as a financially-troubled group, Putera Capital Bhd (2895) has bid for construction jobs worth about RM9 billion in Malaysia.The group, which had its first restructuring proposal rejected by the authorities, is awaiting response to its second revamp plan."If all goes well, than we can embark on these projects with our strategic partners," chief executive officer Wan Azman Wan Salleh said after the group's annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.However, he declined to comment further on the revamp plan.
The group has not made money in seven years and it faces the threat of having its shares taken off the stock exchange.For the financial period ended May 31 2008, the group posted a loss of RM9.2 million on revenue of RM1.5 million.Putera Capital has closed its loss-making textile division and it wants to focus on the construction and infrastructure business.
It holds a 20 per cent stake in the West Coast Expressway, a multi-billion-ringgit project that has yet to take off.On its partnership with Melewar Industrial Group Bhd to build a proposed RM2.2 billion monorail system in George Town Penang, Wan Azman said the group remains hopeful of the project.They are still waiting for a response from the state government, he added.
Published: 2008/11/29
DESPITE its status as a financially-troubled group, Putera Capital Bhd (2895) has bid for construction jobs worth about RM9 billion in Malaysia.The group, which had its first restructuring proposal rejected by the authorities, is awaiting response to its second revamp plan."If all goes well, than we can embark on these projects with our strategic partners," chief executive officer Wan Azman Wan Salleh said after the group's annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.However, he declined to comment further on the revamp plan.
The group has not made money in seven years and it faces the threat of having its shares taken off the stock exchange.For the financial period ended May 31 2008, the group posted a loss of RM9.2 million on revenue of RM1.5 million.Putera Capital has closed its loss-making textile division and it wants to focus on the construction and infrastructure business.
It holds a 20 per cent stake in the West Coast Expressway, a multi-billion-ringgit project that has yet to take off.On its partnership with Melewar Industrial Group Bhd to build a proposed RM2.2 billion monorail system in George Town Penang, Wan Azman said the group remains hopeful of the project.They are still waiting for a response from the state government, he added.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Mideast role in Penang monorail project?
Published: 2008/10/08
The RM2.2 billion project's estimated 15 per cent internal rate of return is attractive enough to invite equity partners, especially from the Middle East, says Melewar Industrial
MELEWAR Industrial Group Bhd (MIG) may welcome Middle East partners to help finance the RM2.2 billion Penang monorail project."There is no way Melewar can fund it all by ourselves. We definitely have to invite equity partners," MIG managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Tunku Ya'acob Tunku Abdullah said.He said the project's estimated 15 per cent internal rate of return (IRR) was attractive enough to invite equity partners, especially from the Middle East.However, MIG will only call for partners when it gets the nod from the Penang state government.
With an equity partner, MIG would then hold between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the monorail project, Tunku Ya'acob said.However, it can only take off a year from now as it is currently difficult to raise money via the bond market.Tunku Ya'acob said that the state government was keen on MIG's proposal as the state would not have to fund the project.
The RM2.2 billion project's estimated 15 per cent internal rate of return is attractive enough to invite equity partners, especially from the Middle East, says Melewar Industrial
MELEWAR Industrial Group Bhd (MIG) may welcome Middle East partners to help finance the RM2.2 billion Penang monorail project."There is no way Melewar can fund it all by ourselves. We definitely have to invite equity partners," MIG managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Tunku Ya'acob Tunku Abdullah said.He said the project's estimated 15 per cent internal rate of return (IRR) was attractive enough to invite equity partners, especially from the Middle East.However, MIG will only call for partners when it gets the nod from the Penang state government.
With an equity partner, MIG would then hold between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the monorail project, Tunku Ya'acob said.However, it can only take off a year from now as it is currently difficult to raise money via the bond market.Tunku Ya'acob said that the state government was keen on MIG's proposal as the state would not have to fund the project.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Scomi still keen on Penang monorail
Scomi still keen on Penang monorail
Published: 2008/09/20
SCOMI Engineering Bhd, a monorail system supplier, is still interested to provide a monorail system for Penang, although the Penang Monorail project has been removed from the Ninth Malaysia Plan.The company is willing to look any city, state or federal government of any country that is considering implementing a monorail system. "We are more than willing to go to the discussion table and see how best we can fit into the requirement," its president, Hilmy Zaini told Bernama recently. Scomi Engineering through a consortium with Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd had put in the bid in the early part of this year for the Penang monorail project.
Among other bidders was Japan's Hitachi.The 52km-monorail, expected to serve as the backbone for the state's public transportation network, was reported to be worth RM1.6 billion. According to Hilmy, the company carried out a thorough feasibility study for the project, including ridership and alignment studies as well as underground mapping. Specific studies had to be taken in order to submit a meaningful bid, he said.The consortium has spent several million ringgit so far, an amount that would have been normally incurred to put in such studies, he said. On the impact of delaying the project, Hilmy said the obvious setback will be the price escalation."When we put in the bid, there was a specific period price validity. That has lapsed now. "Prices as you know, keep increasing. The longer you wait, the more expensive it is going to be."Concrete and steel prices have gone up more or less by 20 per cent. "Of course if there is firm interest again for the Penang monorail, we can do another costing as such," said Hilmy.Asked whether Penangites urgently needed the monorail system, Hilmy said "it was an open secret that they have been asking for such a system for the last 10 years." "What we have found out is that the most optimal system for Penang, at the right price and at the right construction period, is the monorail." - Bernama
Published: 2008/09/20
SCOMI Engineering Bhd, a monorail system supplier, is still interested to provide a monorail system for Penang, although the Penang Monorail project has been removed from the Ninth Malaysia Plan.The company is willing to look any city, state or federal government of any country that is considering implementing a monorail system. "We are more than willing to go to the discussion table and see how best we can fit into the requirement," its president, Hilmy Zaini told Bernama recently. Scomi Engineering through a consortium with Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd had put in the bid in the early part of this year for the Penang monorail project.
Among other bidders was Japan's Hitachi.The 52km-monorail, expected to serve as the backbone for the state's public transportation network, was reported to be worth RM1.6 billion. According to Hilmy, the company carried out a thorough feasibility study for the project, including ridership and alignment studies as well as underground mapping. Specific studies had to be taken in order to submit a meaningful bid, he said.The consortium has spent several million ringgit so far, an amount that would have been normally incurred to put in such studies, he said. On the impact of delaying the project, Hilmy said the obvious setback will be the price escalation."When we put in the bid, there was a specific period price validity. That has lapsed now. "Prices as you know, keep increasing. The longer you wait, the more expensive it is going to be."Concrete and steel prices have gone up more or less by 20 per cent. "Of course if there is firm interest again for the Penang monorail, we can do another costing as such," said Hilmy.Asked whether Penangites urgently needed the monorail system, Hilmy said "it was an open secret that they have been asking for such a system for the last 10 years." "What we have found out is that the most optimal system for Penang, at the right price and at the right construction period, is the monorail." - Bernama
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