KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 4): A joint venture (JV) between Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) and George Kent (M) Bhd (MRCB-George Kent JV) has been appointed as project delivery partner (PDP) for the RM9 billion Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project.

"The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has given approval for the appointment of the MRCB-George Kent JV as the PDP for LRT3," Prasarana chairman Tan Sri Ismail Adam told a news conference today.

Its group president and chief executive officer Datuk Azmi Abdul Aziz said following this, the PDP will begin the infrastructure and system design works, with pre-qualification of contractors for the various work packages to be conducted by the end of this year.

He added that by December, the final alignment of LRT3 and funds for the acquisition of land will be known.

Azmi said the ground work of the LRT3 is expected to begin by early 2016, noting that the deadline for completion is Aug 31, 2020.

On the public inspection and public hearing of the LRT3 alignment, Azmi said the public hearing was concluded last month, which saw 90% of respondents in Prasarana's survey giving support to the project.

However, Prasarana is still trying to reach out to the remaining 10% of respondents who were opposed to the project to get their views.

Meanwhile, Prasarana will seek funds for the rail project through sukuk issuance.

"We have gotten approval (from the government) for Prasarana to issue sukuk to finance this project. It would be on market rate. I can share with you that the local financial institutions are very excited to participate in this," Azmi added.

He noted that Prasarana will manage the cash flow of the project and when to issue sukuk to finance the RM9 billion project. "We will raise (funds) as and when required," he said.

Azmi said selection of the PDP was done by open tender.

"[We] went through the normal standard procurement procedure, deliberated, and MRCB-George Kent JV was the successful bidder for the project," he added.

In May, Azmi had stated that the PDP for LRT3 stands to get 6% of the project cost as management fees.

MRCB and George Kent each owns a 50% ownership interest in the JV.

When asked about the impact of the weakening ringgit on the cost of the project, Azmi said the volatility of the local currency is not a main concern, but that of the final design of the project.

He believes that the government's newly-formed Special Economic Committee will ensure that the economy will pick up and the ringgit will strengthen to 3.7000 against the US dollar.

Shares in MRCB closed 15 sen or 17.65% higher at RM1 today, for a market capitalisation of RM1.52 billion. George Kent's share price closed 21 sen or 17.8% higher at RM1.39, bringing a market cap of RM354.5 million.

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