MRT Corp, SRS Konsortium in final phase of negotiations for Penang LRT — exco

• Penang Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the parties are currently in the final phase of negotiations, and are confident that the project can be started according to the plan, which is before year end.

GEORGE TOWN (Oct 23): The Mutiara Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) project will begin as soon as the contract negotiations between Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) as the implementing agency and contractor SRS Konsortium are finalised.

Penang Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the parties are currently in the final phase of negotiations, and are confident that the project can be started according to the plan, which is before year end.

"I have attended a meeting with MRT Corp, and the latest status is that they are currently finalising negotiations with SRS Konsortium.

"I believe SRS Konsortium has also sent its latest proposal, and when all the contract negotiations are finalised, the work can begin," he told reporters after the Penang Go Digital Carnival press conference in Komtar here on Wednesday.

Zairil said MRT Corp had also identified several locations to hold the ground-breaking ceremony, but is studying the suitability of the location by also taking into account logistics and traffic factors.

"As soon as the ground-breaking ceremony is held at any location that has no encumbrances, meaning no obstacles, for example government land, no squatters, it is clear...then it can start. It will start simultaneously in several locations, not in one location only," he said.

Previously, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the date for the ground-breaking work would only be announced by the Ministry of Transport after an agreement between MRT Corp and SRS Konsortium is signed involving the construction of the route for the first segment from Silicon Island to Komtar.

On March 29, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook announced that the federal government had officially taken over the Penang Pearl Line LRT project from the state government, with MRT Corp appointed as the developer and asset owner.

The procurement of the project is divided into three main components — civil construction works for Segment I, which is the line from Silicon Island to Komtar; works for civil construction of Segment 2, which is the alignment from Komtar to Penang Sentral; and a turnkey contract for system and carriage works on a build-maintain-transfer basis.

The Penang LRT is also among the projects announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Budget 2025 last Friday, in addition to the Juru and Sungai Dua Elevated Highway projects, the expansion of the Penang International Airport, and the Batu Kawan Industrial Park 3 project in Penang.

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