“We are grateful to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the Cabinet for settling the dispute out of court,” union president Abdul Razak Md Hassan told FMT.
He said the union was grateful to Ismail for listening to its concerns over the delay in KVDT2’s completion, as the project was intended to resolve issues regarding ride frequency and delayed trips.
Razak hoped the contractor would “perform well”, follow all safety procedures and finish the project on schedule, as its timely completion was vital to ensure Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad’s (KTMB) trains could operate at full capacity.
He said the union was glad Dhaya Maju LTAT had been allowed to continue with the project, as the contractor had also worked on Phase 1.
“We will also monitor the project to ensure no problems arise between the workers of Dhaya Maju LTAT and KTMB,” he said.
It was reported on June 13 that the dispute over KVDT2 was finally settled, with the government deciding to allow Dhaya Maju LTAT to continue with the RM4.5 billion project.
Senior federal counsel Asliza Ali told the Kuala Lumpur High Court the decision was made at a Cabinet meeting on May 18.
Asliza said the project would be continued by Dhaya Maju LTAT with the original contract cost of RM4.5 billion and implementation terms as stated in a letter of acceptance in 2019.
Transport expert Rosli Azad Khan said the continuation of KVDT2 was needed for KTM to operate at maximum capacity.
Rosli told FMT that prolonged unrepaired lines had resulted in a decline in passenger ridership from 134,000 daily in 2015 to less than 20,000 a day in 2022.
He said the failure to rehabilitate the KVDT rails had caused passengers to revert to resorting to road transportation, contributing to the worsened traffic congestion since the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions.
The KVDT2 project involves the rehabilitation of 265km of railway tracks from Salak South in Kuala Lumpur to Seremban and from Simpang Port Klang near MidValley in Kuala Lumpur to Port Klang.
The project has been delayed twice since 2017. It was cancelled by the Pakatan Harapan government, then reinstated, then cancelled again by the Perikatan Nasional government, leading to a suit by the contractor, Dhaya Maju-LTAT.