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KLANG: The Selangor state government has picked four companies it will partner to rehabilitate and develop the Klang River, a project which was the main thrust of the state's economic stimulus package unveiled last year.
The four are: TSS-Mako Engineering Sdn Bhd, GJA Engineering Sdn Bhd, Wessex Water I-Bhd Consortium and DPZ Asia Sdn Bhd. The first three companies had been chosen from the 37 companies that responded last October to the state's advertised search for proposals. DPZ Asia is a planning and design company involved in major development projects worldwide, Selangor menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said in a press statement March 13.
He said TSS-Mako Engineering, GJA Engineering and Wessex Water I-Bhd had experience and technical expertise in river cleaning and development as well as the financial capabilities. TSS-Mako, said the menteri besar, combined local talents with three of Korea's biggest engineering firms. Its water river projects include the South Han River Maintenance, Seoul-Incheon Navigation Channel Project and Gemalink Container terminal Phase One in Vietnam.
GJA Engineering is a 100% owned Bumiputera company which, in the last three years, has been involved in the development of "design and build projects" for the Malaysian Education Ministry.
YTL Power International's Wessex, a UK-based company, is a regional water and sewage treatment business supplying some 353 million litres of water daily to about 1.25 million people in South West England. For the Klang River project, Wessex will partner Malaysian listed company I-Bhd, the developer of up-and-coming multi-billion ringgit digital I-City taking shape in Shah Alam, Selangor's state capital.
Efforts to clean the Klang River in the past had been unsuccessful but the state government was determined to be succesful this time. "The state is committed to the realisation of the economic and social value of the Klang River to the people of Selangor," added the menteri besar.
Meanwhile, Bernama, quoting Abdul Khalid at a press conference on the sidelines of the Klang River Carnival at Taman Pengkalan Batu in Klang March 13, said RM1 billion would be spent in development cost while another RM1 billion would be spent to clean and rehabilitate the Klang River.
The government has gazetted a 50-metre "river reserve" to prevent any new development or settlement coming up along the 120-km long river. The initial stage of the project would take two to three years to complete. The whole project will take about 15 years.
