Malaysia Rail Link: No clause on Jho Low-linked firms in ECRL deal

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd, the project and asset owner of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), has denied that contracts it signed with Chinese contractor China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) and the Export-Import Bank of China came with a clause to nominate an unrelated company to buy 70% of Putrajaya Perdana Bhd for US$244 million (RM971 million) as well as 90% of Loh & Loh Corp Bhd for US$71 million (RM282.6 million).

In a statement released yesterday, MRL called the information in an article in a business weekly headlined “Jho Low’s Handiwork” baseless and an irresponsible allegation.

The article sought to establish links between Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and the negotiations for Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd’s RM9.4 billion pipeline projects and the ECRL among others. Putrajaya Perdana and Loh & Loh are companies linked to Jho Low.

“There is no contract between and MRL that stipulates this clause. Neither does this clause appear in the loan agreement between MRL and the Export-Import Bank of China.”

“As the project owner of the 688km ECRL, the inaccurate information presented in the said article potentially ruins the reputation of MRL and its cordial relationship with CCCC, the main contractor of the project. As such, MRL urges the media to engage with its Corporate Communications Department to verify information with regard to the ECRL project,” it said.

MRL went on to explain that the long overdue ECRL infrastructure project was done based on a government-togovernment agreement. It mooted the setting up of a special purpose vehicle company to oversees its implementation.

MRL was incorporated on Sept 26, 2016, and only then was the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract with CCCC and the loan agreement with ExportImport Bank of China, for the ECRL project was under its purview.

To date the ECRL has made 14.33% overall progress of its construction, which includes setting up of base and satellite camps in all eight sections of the project, land acquisition, site clearing and construction of road access.