SEPANG: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) looks set to miss a year-end deadline to issue a certificate of practical completion (CPC) for klia2’s main terminal building. This would be the final certification to allow the handover of responsibility for the terminal from the main contractor to the airport operator.

Its managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali (pic) had on Nov 27 said MAHB expected to issue the CPC for the terminal building to its main contractor, the joint venture (JV) between UEM Construction Sdn Bhd and Bina Puri Holdings Bhd (UEMC-Bina Puri JV) by year-end.

However, when met after group’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) here yesterday, Badlisham said it was still unable to issue the CPC to UEMC-Bina Puri JV as the latter has failed to comply with certain criteria including “some minor testing of the facilities and documentations”.

“They (UEMC-Bina Puri JV) know what I want and they know when is the deadline,” said Badlisham, when pressed on the timeframe for the CPC issuance.

“We have set the requirements and deadline and they should come back to us [within the timeframe],” he added.

Badlisham said to date, 98% of construction works at klia2 have been completed.

A CPC is a documented verification in which all works and tasks included in a contract have been satisfactorily completed. Without the CPC, the terminal building is still under the responsibility of the contractors and not MAHB.

On the problems plaguing klia2 such as depressions on the taxiway and apron due to soil settlement, Badlisham said MAHB will continue to carry out rectification works on the site.

He welcomed the move by the Transport Ministry to form a five-man independent audit committee to investigate the problems at klia2.

“We will work closely with the committee to address those problems,” he said.

The committee would be headed by Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and Pacific president Professor Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik.

He will be joined by Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, Public Works Department director-general Datuk Annies Md Ariff, G&P Professionals chief executive Datuk Dr Gue See Sew and Petronas Dagangan Bhd general manager of lubricants business division Mohd Shobri Abu Bakar.

Earlier at the EGM, MAHB shareholders passed two resolutions, namely its acquisition of the remaining 40% stake in Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISG) and the proposed rights issue to raise RM1.3 billion to fund the acquisition.

Following the acquisition, Badlisham said, MAHB will consolidate ISG’s account into the group financial account. Its overseas business, including airport operations and services to airports, will then make up about 30% of the group’s total revenue.

Badlisham is also unfazed by losses in ISG, saying the Turkish airport is strategically located between Asia and Europe, and is registering a 20% to 25% year-on-year growth in passenger traffic.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 24, 2014.