KUALA LUMPUR: George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd has distanced itself from the statements made by its independent non-executive director Datuk Paduka Keizrul Abdullah over an RM11.86 billion light rail transit job.
“Datuk Keizrul was speaking to Bernama on the sidelines of an event that took place on the group’s premises. He made several statements in the course of the conversation that centred on the group’s award of the LRT3 (light rail transit 3) project at a fixed contract sum of RM11.86 billion.
“George Kent would like to clarify that Datuk Keizrul’s statements were made in his private capacity, and do not reflect the view of the group and its board of directors,” it said in a statement today.
George Kent said it was thankful for the opportunities to participate in meeting the country’s transportation needs.
“With the execution of the fixed-price contract with Prasarana Malaysia Bhd for the LRT3 project on January 25, 2019, the group, via MRCB George Kent Sdn Bhd – its joint-venture company with Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd – is confident and committed to complete and deliver the project on time,” it said.
Keizrul reportedly said on Sunday that the group was optimistic the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government would appreciate its expertise as a rail systems specialist, although it had been long perceived as a Barisan Nasional (BN)-friendly company.
“If the current government does not like us, it would not have allowed us to continue with the Light Railway Transit 3 (LRT 3) project,” Keizrul was quoted as saying.
The report said George Kent was labelled a “crony” of the previous BN-led government, as it was a known fact that chairman Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock, who controls a 42.21 per cent stake, was a golfing buddy of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
Keizrul also discounted the notion that Tan’s close relationship with Najib would be a stumbling block for George Kent to secure future projects from the present government.
“People always assumed that we secured our past jobs because of the ‘BN connection’.
“In fact, we secured all our jobs, including our first mega project, the Ampang-Line LRT extension, via an open tender instead of negotiated contracts,” he was quoted as saying.
Sumber: The Malaysian Reserve
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