Public funds not involved in ‘5G street lamp project’ in KL, says company COO

THE RM30.75mil street lamp project in Kuala Lumpur that was awarded to Sarawak Consolidated Industries Berhad (SCIB) does not involve public funds and the company has no links to DBKL whatsoever.

Ennova Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Megat Rozaimi Jaafar said the company needed to clear the air over the matter as it gave the impression that DBKL was paying for the project.

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“We felt the need to set the record straight as this project is funded by our company and it involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of 200 units of lamp poles or monopole in Kuala Lumpur,’’ he said.

Megat explained that the only link with DBKL was that they were renting the site where the poles would be constructed from the local authority.

He was responding to a statement issued by DAP Kuala Lumpur complaints bureau chairman Lim Lip Eng on Saturday (June 11), who alleged that the project was too costly.

Lim had said that the project involves 200 lamp posts to be built at a cost of RM30.75mil, which comes up to RM153,750 each.

“We pay the rent to DBKL for the site and we then will rent out to telco companies,’’ Megat said.

“We are not the only company doing this. DBKL has appointed 20 other companies as they need the infrastructure to roll out 5G telecommunication networks.

He added there will be instances where old lamp posts will be replaced with new ones.

“It will easily cost between RM50,000 to RM90,000 to install a pole as there is also the cost of land survey fees, soil investigation to be considered.

“These state-of-the-art poles are sturdy and lighting safe and integrated with telecommunication equipment.’’

It was earlier reported that a contract was awarded to Sarawak Consolidated Industries Berhad (SCIB) via Ennova Sdn Bhd to construct and operate 200 street lights in Kuala Lumpur for DBKL.

Ennova is a telecommunications infrastructure service company. Its job includes providing services like building, leasing, transmissions to operations and maintenance of monopoles.

The project is set to start in June and end by May 2023.