Supplemental pact for 2nd phase of KL Sports City project delayed

Doing the Honour: From left to right, Nurul Neyyah Mukhzani, 24, Akmal Mohamad, 34 and Juliani Yusof did not miss their chance to register as volunteers for the upcoming Kuala Lumpur SEA Games 2017 during the 69th Umno General Assembly at Putra World Trade Centre. AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: The signing of the supplemental agreement for the second phase of the RM1.63bil Kuala Lumpur Sports City project may be delayed for up to three months, pending the finalisation of the design for Project 2.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd said the date for signing the supplemental agreement would be extended from Jan 31 to a date falling on or before April 28, or any further extended date as agreed between the parties.

The execution of this agreement is one of the conditions precedent for starting construction works for Project 2.

The parties refer to MRCB’s 85%-owned indirect subsidiary Rukun Juang Sdn Bhd, the Youth and Sports Ministry and Minister of Finance (Inc)’s unit Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd, which signed the privatisation agreement in October 2015.

MRCB said Rukun Juang yesterday received a notice from the Government indicating that the design for Project 2 had not been finalised. 

Project 2, valued at RM1.1bil, accounts for the lion’s share of the KL Sports City project’s contract sum. Project 1 is worth RM499.2mil.

Under the terms of the original agreement, construction works for Project 2 should kick off no later than Jan 1, 2018, provided that certain conditions are met, including the execution of the aforementioned supplemental agreement.

According to MRCB’s announcement to the stock exchange in October 2015, Project 2 is expected to be completed within 36 months from the start of construction. (For comparison, Project 1 has a 17-month construction period.)

Project 2 is supposed to come after the completion of Project 1, which was projected to be by June this year.

The first phase involves getting the Bukit Jalil National Stadium (now called KL Sports City) ready to host the 2017 SEA Games. 

Rukun Juang’s task under Project 1 is to refurbush, renovate and upgrade the National Stadium, Putra Stadium, hockey stadium and aquatic centre located at the National Sports Complex, as well as building the common infrastructures, including boulevard, parking, steps and new signage.

Project 2, meanwhile, involves the upgrading of the National Stadium (adding a retractable roof, retractable seats, comfort ventilation and track resurfacing) and the design and construction of a sports complex, sports mall, convention centre, a multi-storey car park, hostels, sports museum, library, and youth park.