KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): Zecon Bhd announced today that it has received a notice of termination from the Public Works Department (JKR) for the construction of Hospital Petra Jaya in Kuching Sarawak. 

However, the Sarawak-based engineering and construction firm is of the opinion that the purported termination is wrongful and hence, has sought legal advice on the termination.

"The company will be seeking legal redress, including initiating an action to challenge the termination through the courts," the group said in a stock exchange filing. 

On July 5, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the cabinet had, in principle, approved the proposal to fire the main contractor for Hospital Petra Jaya for failing to complete the project in time.

At that time, Dzulkefly said JKR would be taking over as the main contractor for the project. 

Zecon was supposed to complete the project by Nov 29, 2016. But as of June this year, only 34.54% of the project is done, with the completion date pushed back to December.
 
The contract, worth RM495 million, was first awarded by JKR to Zecon in April 2013. At that time, Zecon said the project would take 42 months to complete.