‘Blacklisting of construction firm has no bearing on ECRL project’

PETALING JAYA: The World Bank’s blacklisting of China Communica­tions Construction Company (CCCC) has no bearing on Malaysia awarding it the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) contract, according to Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

The Minister in the Prime Minis­ter’s Department said the ECRL was not a road or bridge project and was not funded by the World Bank.

“Therefore, the World Bank sanction does not apply to CCCC’s participation in the ECRL project,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Abdul Rahman was responding to reports quoting his Dewan Negara answer on the matter, where he denied that CCCC was blacklisted by the World Bank.

He clarified that CCCC was formed from a merger between several companies, including China Road and Bridge Company (CRBC).

“CRBC was unilaterally adjudged by the World Bank to have irregularities in a past road construction project in a neighbouring country.

“As a result, World Bank has barred CRBC from engaging in any road or bridge projects financed by it,” he said.

Abdul Rahman also said that a 2011 change to the World Bank sanctions system required successor organisations – through purchase or reorganisation – to be subject to the same sanctions applied to the original firm.

“The successor company, CCCC, was also made ineligible to engage in any road and bridge projects financed by the World Bank,” he said, adding that the sanction would end on Jan 12.

He said CCCC had proved that it was capable of carrying out mega projects in Malaysia such as the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge in Penang, which was completed in 2014.

“Recently, CCCC was also awarded a RM2bil reclamation project by a joint venture company of the Penang government,” he said.