KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd today failed to gain ownership of the Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase 2 (KVDT2) project site to continue work on the project site which has been ordered to be taken over by the government.
Senior Federal Counsel (SFC) Asliza Ali who is representing the government and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong as defendants told Bernama that Justice Datuk Lim Chong Fong rejected the application of Dhaya Maju LTAT as the plaintiff for the ownership of the project site to be given to the company during case management in his chambers today.
The proceeding was also conducted by SFC Azlin Sabtu, while counsel Ashok Ranai acted on behalf of the contractor firm.
Asliza said the basis of the plaintiff’s application followed the decision of High Court Judge Datuk Noorin Badarudin on April 14 who ordered the suspension of the government’s decision to terminate the agreement with Dhaya Maju LTAT and for it to be retendered.
“The court said the application of the plaintiff was not tied to the decision of Justice Noorin on April 14, as it was an equivalent court (High Court).
“The court also viewed the reason submitted by the plaintiff that they have the right to seek remedy and relief on the matter subject to special circumstances which are reasonable and the situation mentioned by the plaintiff is not included in the special circumstances allowed.
“As such, the court upholds the order decided on April 7,” said Asliza who also announced that Dhaya Maju LTAT obtained the permission for judicial review from the High Court April 14 to challenge the decision of the government to terminate the contract of the company for the KVDT2 project.
On April 7, Justice Lim ordered Dhaya Maju LTAT through its employees, workers or representatives of the company to discontinue work at the KVDT2 project site immediately and the government should take over the ownership of the project site immediately.
The court also ordered Dhaya Maju LTAT to be given access to enter KVDT2 project site to carry out demobilisation from the project site in 10 days with the plaintiff giving reasonable notice to the government to conduct joint evaluation at the project site.
Meanwhile, Asliza said considering Dhaya Maju LTAT has yet to agree on a joint evaluation of track at the project site in 10 days from April 7, so the court has added seven days until April 24 for the plaintiff to do so.
On October 27 last year, Dhaya Maju LTAT filed a suit against the government, Wee, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) and engineering consulting company, Opus Consultants (M) Sdn Bhd respectively, as defendant one to four on the termination of its contract for KVDT2 project.
The statement of claims of Dhaya Maju LTAT among others alleged to date, the official termination notice of Contract Under Review has not been delivered to the firm and it is completely unaware of the cancellation which was made through a media statement by Wee and only got to know it for the first time via the media.
Apart from compensation, Dhaya Maju LTAT, a joint venture company between Dhaya Maju Infrastructure (Asia) Sdn Bhd and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) which was incorporated on June 5, 2017 under the Companies Act 2016, seeks to declare the termination of Contract Under Review as a violation of Agreement Settlement which is not legal and unlawful.
The dispute arose after Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz issued a list of 101 projects valued at RM6.61 billion were awarded through direct negotiation during the administration of Pakatan Harapan and it included the KVDT2 project worth RM4.475 billion awarded to Dhaya Maju LTAT.
