KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today granted a temporary injunction barring Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) from instructing the contractor for the Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase 2 (KVDT2) project to give up possession of their worksite.
Judge Lim Chong Fong issued the temporary order sought by Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd against KTMB on Nov 2.
In their application, the company claimed that KTMB’s instruction to give up possession of the Klang site – from Port Klang to Jalan Kastam – was unlawful and without basis.
The temporary injunction will be in effect from Nov 2 to Dec 10, when it will be mentioned again.
Lim also restrained KTMB from revoking Dhaya Maju LTAT’s licence to occupy the site until Dec 10.
Dhaya Maju LTAT has filed a suit against the government and Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong over claims their termination letter for the KVDT2 contract was not duly sent to them, as required under its terms.
The company also said the government had no basis to terminate the contract on grounds of “public interest”.
Besides the government and Wee, the company named consultancy firm Opus Consultants and KTMB in the suit.
Dhaya Maju LTAT also said in their suit that Wee had “ulterior and improper” intention to terminate their contract, and the minister purportedly asked them to subcontract the job to a “China company”.
“After we declined (to adhere to Wee’s request), the meeting ended,” it said.
Contents of court documents were disclosed by former transport minister Loke Siew Fook in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday and he demanded an explanation from Wee.
Wee responded by saying he had “nothing to be afraid of” and challenged Loke to repeat the contents outside Dewan Rakyat.
Dhaya Maju-LTAT had previously filed another lawsuit over the government’s “decision to terminate” the contract to manage the double tracking line.
The company is also seeking to recover more than RM137 million in unpaid fees from the government for work that had been carried out between February and May.
On Aug 28, Wee had announced that the Cabinet had agreed to convert the KVDT2 rehabilitation project to an open tender and to cancel the directly negotiated contract after it found that the project cost a lot less than the amount previously cited.
KVDT2 was one of the 101 projects, involving a total of RM6.61 billion, which the Perikatan Nasional government said were awarded through direct negotiations under the Pakatan Harapan government’s watch. – FMT