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Europlus gets formal nod to start work on West Coast Expressway
THE consortium comprising of IJM Construction Sdn Bhd and Kumpulan Europlus Bhd have been approved by the government as the turnkey/engineering and procurement contractor for the construction of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) project.
In its Bursa filing late yesterday, Europlus said the approval came in a letter dated May 19 for the highway’s construction “for a fixed sum contract not exceeding RM5.044 billion”.
While the government has approved the consortium handling the construction of Sections 3,4,5,8 and 9 of the WCE project at a cost of RM2.828 billion, the others will be put up for tender.
“The appointment of the contractors for the construction of Sections 1,2,6,7,10 and 11 of the WCE project, at a cost of RM2.216 billion will be on an open tender basis in accordance with the concession agreement dated Jan 2, 2013.
“An independent costs consultant approved by the government will be appointed to verify the costs of these Sections,” Europlus said.
The firm had been awarded as of Dec 20, 2013 the 60-year concession by the government to build the WCE from Banting, Selangor, to Taiping, Perak, at a cost of RM7.07 billion.
The 316km highway project will be backed by a government support loan of RM2.24 billion, Europlus had said in an earlier Bursa filing.
The government support loan from 2013 carries an interest rate of 4% per annum and an interest subsidy of up to 3% from commercial loans for a period of 22 years granted to WCE, the filing said.
Toll revenue in excess of an agreed traffic volume will be shared on a 70:30 basis between the government and WCE till full settlement of the government support loan.
Europlus had also said 224km of the highway will be tolled while the remaining 92km will be toll-free.