Joint venture co awarded RM943 mln contract for Kuching Urban Transportation System’s Red Line infrastructure

Sarawak Metro's chief executive officer Ts Mazli Mustaffa (third right) presents the Letter of Award to one of the directors of Sri Datai, Ch'ng Boon Swee, witnessed by other representatives from Sarawak Metro and the joint venture company.

KUCHING, Dec 24: Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd (Sarawak Metro) has awarded a joint venture (JV) company—comprising Sri Datai Construction (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, JT JV Builders Sdn Bhd, and CHEC Construction (M) Sdn Bhd—with the contract to build the infrastructure for the Red Line, which is one of three transit lines under the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project.

According to a Sarawak Metro press release issued today, a total of six bids were received by Sarawak Metro at the close of the tender exercise on October 25.

“The contract, valued at RM943 million, is for the construction and completion of the infrastructure work for the 12.3km Red Line, which stretches from Kuching Sentral to Pending.

“Apart from building the at-grade and elevated dedicated lane for the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART), the contract is also for road widening works as well as other infrastructure works.

“The JV company is expected to commence work next month and is scheduled to complete by December 2026,” read the press release.

Sarawak Metro, a subsidiary of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), has been entrusted to develop, operate and maintain the KUTS under the purview of the Ministry of Transport Sarawak (MOTS).

The project is being developed in phases with Phase 1 consisting of the Blue Line, the Red Line, and the Green Line.

The Blue Line will cover a distance of 27.6km from Rembus in Kota Samarahan to Hikmah Exchange in Kuching City while the Green Line (30km) is from Pending to Damai.

Sarawak Metro further mentioned that phase 1 of the KUTS project is scheduled to begin passenger service in stages; starting from the fourth quarter of 2025 and expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

It also noted that the backbone of the KUTS project is the ART vehicles, which will be supported by feeder buses.

“Both vehicles will be powered by green hydrogen, in support of Sarawak’s decarbonisation efforts and in line with Sarawak’s agenda to advance the hydrogen economy,” it added. — DayakDaily