PTMP impact study due in six months
Source: The Sun Daily, 8 Dec 2015
SHAH ALAM: Environmental and social impact studies on the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) will be ready for public display in six months’ time, according to Gamuda Bhd managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling.
“In the coming months, when it is completed, it will be put online and for public display. There will also be many rounds of consultation with the stakeholders and public,” he said, adding that the process needs to be very transparent.
Nevertheless, Lin said the project will not go ahead if it does not receive overwhelming support.
In August, SRS Consortium comprising Gamuda (60%), Ideal Property Development Sdn Bhd (20%) and Loh Phoy Yen Holdings Sdn Bhd (20%), was appointed as the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) by the Penang government to implement PTMP.
Under a land swap model to finance this mega project, the PDP will be given the rights to reclaim a sizeable amount of land on the island.
At a press conference yesterday, Lin said one “should not jump the gun” on the payment mode for the development of PTMP. However, he believes that the reclamation proposal is “what the company can come up with”.
“That one probably (is) the final stage of how are we going to be paid, the important thing is what the public thinks of this project. This is what the due process has to focus on,” he said.
Lin added that dissatisfaction among the public over the project is not due to the reclamation per se, but the large number of reclamation sites and transparency of the due process.
PTMP involves the construction of a light rail transit line, a monorail line, bus rapid transits and new highways.
“These projects have a lot of multiplier effects (and) are beneficial to the economy,” he said.
Lin noted that tender for the first and second packages of the Mass Rapid Transit Line 2 (MRT 2) project is underway and construction work is expected to begin before May next year. Gamuda and MMC Corp Bhd are the PDP for the MRT 2 project.
He also said Gamuda will invest RM3 to RM3.5 billion on its property development division in 2016 following the RM4.5 billion investment pumped in this year.
“This will bring us RM7 to RM7.5 billion, to a kind of gearing that we’re comfortable with, about 0.7 times equity,” he added.
Gamuda reported a net profit of RM682 million for the financial year ended July 31, 2015 (FY15), a 5.15% drop compared with RM719 million a year earlier.
On a pre-tax level, the infrastructure concessions contributed the most (44%) to the group, followed by property development (30%) and engineering and construction (26%).
No comments:
Post a Comment