GAMUDA Engineering today branded Tony Pua’s statement on the Mass Rapid Transit 2 (MRT2) project libellous.

The firm also said it does not want to be part of the ongoing spat between the Damansara MP and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Gamuda Engineering managing director Justin Chin said Pua’s allegations about MMC-Gamuda were uncalled for and asked him to remain professional in any future public exchanges with Dr Mahathir.

“We do not appreciate you playing to the gallery and grandstanding at our organisation’s expense,” he said in a statement today.

The MRT2 project is managed by MMC Gamuda KVMRT Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between MMC Corp and Gamuda Bhd.

“We have no interest in getting involved in any public exchange between” the two politicians, Chin said.

“However, the Part II Media Statement published on December 8, 2021, included numerous unfounded and libellous allegations made directly against MMC Gamuda and, as such, we are compelled to respond to safeguard our reputation,” Chin said in a statement.

“Pua’s misrepresentation of events and portrayal of the ‘truth’ in numerous instances in his statement were disingenuous at best,” he added.

Dr Mahathir alluded recently that the behaviour of a political secretary to a minister towards investors had cost Malaysia the much-needed funds when Pakatan Harapan was in power.

Pua, who was the political secretary to former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, responded by issuing a statement to say that he could have earned the ire of the Langkawi MP possibly after meddling with Dr Mahathir’s “business friends”.

He added that this could have been linked to his 2018 open letter to MMC Gamuda about the MRT2 project.

The MRT2 was one a number of mega projects that had its funding slashed under the PH government, from RM39.4 billion to RM30.5 billion.

This translates into a reduction of 22.4% from the original cost negotiated by the government with MMC-Gamuda in October 2018.

Chin further said how the company quoted that RM8.82 billion savings can be recognised from the review exercise.

He said 35% of the savings was derived from the provisional sums, reimbursables and contingencies; 60% through scope omissions and specification reductions, which includes the deferment of two underground stations; and 5% were from MMC-Gamuda’s forgone margins as part of the negotiations in converting from the project delivery partner to the turnkey contractor model.

“The conversion to the lump sum turnkey contractor model shifted the risk matrix primarily to us but also allowed for greater control overall and thus enabled a reduction in fees for lump sum margins.

“The Ministry of Finance’s statement dated January 17, 2020, issued upon formalisation of the turnkey contract with MMC Gamuda confirms the same,” he said.

Chin then attacked Pua’s recommended independent engineering consultant as “having no relevant track record of comparable complex multidisciplinary mega infrastructure projects, particularly for underground tunnelling and certainly not for systems”.

“Put simply, they would not even be prequalified to tender as the design consultant for a project of this scale and complexity anywhere in the world, but their study was used to guide your assumptions of ‘very significant savings to be achieved without sacrificing the functionality, viability and operations of the project’.

“Jointly with MRT Corp, we recommended at the time of the MRT2 review exercise that you appoint an internationally qualified consultant of your own choosing with a respectable and relevant track record to conduct a fair, informed review of the project cost but you have chosen to disregard this for reasons unknown to us or to the public.”

He added that many of the “potential savings” presented by Pua’s appointed independent engineering consultant were not technically viable and were repeatedly refuted with technical justifications during the review exercise.

On the company’s countless lobbying trips to Dr Mahathir as alleged by Pua, Chin said the company knew early on that the best approach was to write an official letter to the then prime minister to present its case and leave it to his discretion.

Chin, therefore, dismissed Pua’s lobbying allegations as fiction.

He also said that Pua’s assertion that others can do the project for a significantly cheaper price was moot, speculative and unproven. – December 10, 2021.