Fajarbaru eyes rail-related maintenance jobs

KUALA LUMPUR: Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd, which has received its trackwork machinery, is eyeing for more railway tracks maintenance works.

In a statement, Fajarbaru said it received the track work machinery to be used for railway rehabilitation works from China Jiangsu KTK Locomotive and Rolling Stocks Co. Ltd and Gemac Engineering Machinery Co. Ltd. The handover ceremony was witnessed by the Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd executive director Eric Kuan Khian Leng said: “This is a historical and proud moment for Fajabaru, as we have ordered some RM50mil worth of trackwork machinery, and they have arrived at our project site here in Kuala Lipis, Pahang. 

“This marks the beginning of a transformation and further development for the company in the rail business,” Kuan said. 

Kuan said the machinery were ordered for its rail project that has a value of more than RM250mil, known as the rehabilitation of track formation, replacement of ballast and
associated works between Jerantut, Pahang and Gua Musang Railway Station, Kelantan (Package B) that was awarded in 2016. 

“By possessing these machines, this also makes Fajarbaru as one of the few private organisations to own such equipment, giving us a significant competitive advantage in the bidding of new construction and maintenance jobs for rail-related projects in the future,” he added. 

There is more than 2,200km of railway tracks in Malaysia, of which Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) owns more than 80% of it.

“In view of some RM50bil has gone into rail-related infrastructure projects in the last five years, and Malaysia is poised to spend a further RM80bil at least in the next years, we hope that with these machines in hand, both KTMB and Fajarbaru can tap into each other’s expertise and capitalise on the synergistic competencies to keep the rail network well maintained,” Kuan said.

 “We are definitely eyeing the potential of a huge maintenance contract that comes with the vast spending on rail-related jobs. The spree of rail related infrastructure projects that were announced in the last few months, being the most recent – 688-km East Coast Rail Link, are all the potential projects. 

“The machinery that we received today have a shell life of at least 20 years, which means after the completion of the project in Pahang, we can deploy it for other usage,” Kuan added.