Nylex’s parent company, Ancom Nylex Bhd, announced the receipt of the LoI dated May 5 in a bourse filing today.
“The government has granted approval in principle to a consortium comprising DOM Industries (M) Sdn Bhd, MMC Engineering Sdn Bhd, BTS Group Holdings PCL, and Nylex to undertake the proposed project,” it said.
It is understood that DOM Industries’ nature of business includes railway and IT, while MMC Engineering is engaged in specialised engineering and construction works.
BTS Group Holdings is a company based in Thailand that engages in mass transportation, marketing, and other businesses. Nylex’s nature of business includes property development and investment in real estate assets.
Ancom said the project involves a medium capacity rail system to be developed under a public-private partnership model.
The parent firm also said the consortium will negotiate the terms and conditions with the government, and the project’s implementation will be subject to the execution and finalisation of definitive agreements between the parties.
On Friday, transport consultant Rosli Khan questioned the role played by Ukas, a unit under the Prime Minister’s Department, in the Johor Bahru rapid transit project.
He said that while the unit’s involvement in public-private partnership deals is not unusual, it is unclear what Ukas was involved in with the Johor Bahru autonomous rapid transit (ART) project.
Rosli was commenting on a report in the Edge saying that Ukas is expected to issue an LoI for the Johor Bahru project, which is estimated to cost nearly RM7 billion and is being pursued under a public-private partnership arrangement.
He wondered who in government was providing the technical advice and expertise when it came to the choice of technology, and whether that role was being clearly anchored on the expertise of transport specialists rather than only a public-private partnership unit.
Rosli also asked whether MRT Corp or Prasarana were involved in the planning if the choice of system had changed.
The matter had become more pressing because the project was first described publicly as an elevated ART system, but the proposal now being discussed appeared to point to an automated people mover system.
He said this also raised a broader question over whether the project was government-led planning or proposal-led planning, and whether there had been a full study of alternatives before one system emerged as the front-runner.