This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 29, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Construction Group Bhd (SunCon) has bagged a RM1.21 billion contract to construct the viaduct guideway and other associated works for a 4.9km stretch of the mass rapid transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) line.

In a statement yesterday, Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) said the viaduct work package (V201) is part of the SSP line’s elevated alignment from Sungai Buloh to Persiaran Dagang.

The award was made to SunCon unit Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd, following a one-stop procurement committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, it added.

MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar said this is the second viaduct work package to be awarded for the construction of the SSP line after the award for Work Package V202 worth RM1.44 billion last week to Ahmad Zaki Sdn Bhd.

“Both contractors will very soon be clearing their sites and mobilising machinery to begin construction work.

“This is a very good development for the project. I am confident that we will be able to follow closely to the schedule for the project to ensure that phase 1 of the SSP line begins operations in the second quarter of 2021, and the rest of the line in the second quarter of 2022,” he added.

Shahril said all successful tenders were selected on the basis of the best evaluated tender. The tenders are evaluated on technical and commercial aspects. This meant that the successful tender might not always be the one with the lowest price.

“However, I can state that the best evaluated tender for this work package was also the one with the lowest price among the four tenders submitted,” he said.

SunCon is currently the contractor for Package V4 of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang line. On that basis, the group was pre-qualified to tender for work packages for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya line.

The SSP line is 52.2km in length, of which 13.5km will run underground. It will have 37 stations, 11 of them being underground.

In total, there are 66 work packages being tendered for the construction of the SSP line. They include 10 viaduct guideway packages, one underground work package, two depot work packages, 10 station work packages, and 15 multistorey park and ride work packages.

The remaining tenders are for advance works, connectivity, systems, designated suppliers and designated contractors, said MRT Corp.

SunCon shares closed unchanged at RM1.67 yesterday, for a market capitalisation of RM2.1 billion.