A major milestone for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line Project was achieved on 17 January 2020 when the Supplemental Agreement to the Project Delivery Partner Agreement was signed in a ceremony at Ministry of Finance, Putrajaya.

The agreement signed between Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) and MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP SSP) Sdn Bhd marked the conclusion of the cost rationalisation process which managed to reduce the SSP Line’s construction cost to RM8.82 billion from RM39.35 billion to RM30.53 billion. The RM8.82 billion represented a saving of 22.4% over the original construction cost.

MRT Corp Chief Executive Officer, Encik Abdul Yazid Kassim signed the document for MRT Corp, witnessed by MRT Corp SSP Line Project Director, Dato’ Amiruddin Ma’aris with MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP SSP) Sdn Bhd represented by its Directors, Dato’ Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh and Dato’ Ir. Paul Ha. Witnessing the signing ceremony were Finance Minister Tuan Lim Guan Eng and Transport Minister Tuan Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

Among the costs savings were conversion of the project structure from a project delivery partner model to that of a turnkey model resulting in a savings of the Project Delivery Partner fee and rationalisation in the allocation of reimbursables, contingencies and provisional sums.  Deferment and rationalisation of both elevated and underground works scopes such as the deferred opening of Bandar Malaysia Utara and Bandar Malaysia Selatan underground stations and simplification of the architectural finishing of stations, as well as rationalisation of scope of work for electrical and mechanical system works, for example reducing the electric train fleet from 58 to 49 trains, also contributed to the cost reduction.

The cost saving was achieved by adopting the approach that the MRT SSP Line will be built in a progressive manner to meet the current demand, rather than built to maximum capacity level at the onset to circumvent the unsustainable level of debt that could arise from such projects. This approach however does not compromise on the quality, safety and operational efficiency of the railway system.

The change in project structure, will also not affect the original target for Bumiputera participation of 45% of total contract value, which will amount to RM13.7 billion.

The current progress of the SSP Line is 70% with the deadline for the delivery of Phase One of the SSP Line will remain the same, namely mid-2021 between Sungai Buloh and Kampung Batu. For the completion of the rest of the line, the contractual operationalisation date has been extended by six months to January 2023.