PETALING JAYA: Eighty-one bumiputra-controlled companies have participated in the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project as of end of August this year, says the Transport Ministry (MOT).

       In a Facebook post yesterday, the ministry said the claim by Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday that bumiputra participation in the project was “non-existent”, is inaccurate.

       “’As of Aug 31, 2021, a total of 81 bumiputra-majority companies have participated in the project with a value of RM320mil.

       “This constitutes 10.67% of the entire project’s planned RM3bil in total bumiputra participation value.

       “This fact should be seen in the context of the RM50.3bil project’s progress as informed by the Minister (Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong) in Parliament, which currently stands at 23.96% as of Aug 31.

       “These 81 bumiputra companies have successfully passed the pre-qualifying exercise done in 2017 and 2019, and won their contracts competitively through bids with the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning main (EPCC) contractor.

       “They include 43 contractors, two consulting firms and 36 vendors and suppliers.

       “As a whole, the total local participation rate of the ECRL has a value of RM4.59bil from a planned total of RM10bil (45.9%), with 1,368 companies participating,” it said.

       MOT said that under the Supplementary Agreement No. 6, the effective participation rate of bumiputra companies in ECRL will be raised from 30% to 32.9%, which it argued is a commendable commitment by the main EPCC contractor to raise the percentage of local and bumiputra participation in the project.

       “This was a result of a special committee formed in October 2020 chaired by the secretary-general of the Transport Ministry to oversee the increase of local and bumiputra participation in the project. As a whole, the ministry aims to develop and raise the capabilities of local companies so that they will be able to compete equally in mega projects such as the ECRL, which are catalysts for future growth for the nation,” it said.