KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has awarded three work package contracts for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line worth RM1.38 billion.

In a statement today, MRT Corp said the awards, which included two system work packages and one advance work package, were made following a One-Stop Procurement Committee Meeting (OSPC) chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

With the latest work packages awarded, MRT Corp said a total of four viaduct work packages, four system work packages and one underground work package have been awarded.

According to MRT Corp, Colas Rail Consortium has bagged the system work package SY205 for the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of power supply and distribution system for the SSP Line valued at RM693.03 million.

The second system work package — SY206 — was clinched by Sapura-EVD Consortium, a Bumiputera-led local consortium.

The project, valued at RM632 million, was for the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of communications, government integrated radio network, commercial telecom (Infra) and information technology system for the SSP Line.

Meanwhile, SN Akmida Holdings Sdn Bhd was the successful tenderer for the advance work package for the construction and completion of Sungai Besi Police Quarters and other associated works for RM59.5 million.

In the same statement, MRT Corp announced that there is now a change in the requirement for MRT SSP Line.

MRT Corp said it now encourages Malaysian companies with 100% local content to participate in the MRT project, by virtue of these requirements.

"Joint venture companies with 100% local content will get a competitive edge, where they will receive additional points in the evaluation," it said.

For foreign companies to qualify to participate in the bidding process, it said they would need to prove in their tender that there exists a joint venture with a local company, with the weightage of the work undertaken by the local company to be at least 30%.

In the first MRT project, the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line, foreign companies tendering for the MRT project would need to source at least 30% of their parts from local companies, though the sourcing of the content was not required to be based on a joint venture with the local company.

Commenting on this, MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar said the change in the requirement for MRT SSP Line requires foreign companies to work together with local companies, instead of just sourcing materials.

"We want local companies to actively participate in the MRT Project, further encouraging knowledge transfer into our economy," he added.