KUALA LUMPUR: Public transport operator Prasarana Malaysia Bhd is looking to start the construction of the RM9 billion light rail transit line three (LRT3) by the first quarter of 2016.

Prasarana group managing director Azmi Abdul Aziz said the 35km line linking Bandar Utama to Johan Setia in Klang would be completed by Aug 31, 2020.

“So far, seven [companies] have collected the documents but there is no submission yet [by potential project delivery partners (PDP)] for the development,” he told reporters yesterday in a media briefing on the LRT3.

Azmi said the PDP submission deadline is by the first week of June.

Prasarana expects to take about a month to evaluate the submissions, after which it will announce the successful bidder by July, said Azmi.

Prasarana said the RM9 billion excluded the cost for land acquisitions.

“We have not completed the actual budget for the alignment,” he said, adding that the current budget is just an indication of how the allignment is going to be, with sites for the project identified.

The details of the proposed project will only be finalised after Prasarana has obtained feedback from a public display of the project, which is slated to take place between May 15 and Aug 14 at selected locations, he said.

On reports of resistance from Bandar Utama residents against the development, Azmi said: “We will have to go with the majority of the public on the [development]. We expect the public to be more detailed in their feedback if they have reservations. It is not to say [Bandar Utama residents are] resistant, but more [that they are trying] to get clarity [on the project].”

“I do not want to identify any exact location but we have been engaging with all relevant parties. One group is saying they do not want the alignment [while] another wants it,” he said.

He said Prasarana did a study on the LRT3 alignment and the findings show that it is “economically dynamic”. He said Prasarana is targeting a ridership of 70,000 on commencement of the line in 2020.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 13, 2015.