KUALA LUMPUR (May 6): The West Coast Expressway, a 233km toll highway connecting Banting in Selangor and Taiping in Perak, should have been completed three years ago under its concession agreement signed in 2013. 

Ten years on, however, it has only reached 86% completion, with only four out of the 11 sections of the highway open for traffic.

Back then, the concession agreement was criticised because it was granted a tenure of 60 years — then the longest ever in Malaysia. It turns out that this is probably the highway that takes the longest time to build.

The construction works of the highway, which had not been expected to be technically challenging, started in early 2015. 

Somehow, the multibillion infrastructure project, which was first proposed in the late 1990s, faced a myriad of issues since day one. Besides underperforming contractors and funding issues, the thorny problems that the project encountered ranged from disputes over land acquisitions, changes in political leadership, alignment amendments, and escalating costs.

Nonetheless, the worst is over now, according to Lyndon Alfred Felix, the chief executive officer of WCE Holdings Bhd, which holds an 80% stake in the concessionaire West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd — giving shareholders who invested in the company hoping for steady dividends from the toll incomes a flicker of hope for better prospects ahead. 

What are the underlying reasons for his optimism? While Lyndon says the West Coast Expressway will be completed by end-2024, what caused the decade-long delay in completing the highway?

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.