Over 100 feeder buses to complement MRT service
Along with the start of the MRT Phase 1 service tomorrow, feeder buses as well as Park-and-Ride facilities will be operational. A total of 107 feeder buses will service 25 routes originating from each MRT station to popular locations such as KL Sentral and Subang Airport as well as residential areas such as Bukit Rahman Putra and SS22 Damansara Jaya. With the fare set at RM1, the bus is equipped with a cash ticketing system and Touch ‘N Go. It is hoped that the feeder bus service will encourage people to leave their cars at home and walk to the nearest bus stop. On top of the new feeder buses, Rapid KL buses will service passengers who wish to travel from Phileo Damansara, Pusat Bandar Damansara and Semantan stations to KL Sentral and Bangsar LRT station. It will cost RM4.30 per entry for cars and RM1.10 per entry for motorcycles into each park-and-ride facility. Almost all park-and-ride facilities will use Touch ‘n Go only except for the Bandar Utama station, which will have a cash payment option. (The Star Online)
Country Garden JV to launch Forest City
One of China’s top real estate developers, Country Garden, has partnered with Johor’s Esplanade Danga 88 Sdn Bhd in a joint venture (JV) to launch its latest project, Forest City, with a GDV of US$100 billion (RM441 billion). Based on the concepts of green and smart, Forest City is one of the biggest investment projects by Country Garden in cooperation with top global teams, including Sasaki, Huawei, Arup, Accenture and G-Energy Global, to create a prime model of a future city. The project, located in Johor, adopts a multi-layered design and features vertical greening facades and parks without vehicles. It is Country Garden’s third project in Malaysia, after Danga Bay in Johor and Diamond City, Semenyih. American school Shattuck St Mary, Taiwan’s MJ healthcare group and luxury flagship store Secoo from China are expected to open in Forest City. (The Edge Markets)
Gamuda, IJM and WCT likely to gain from HSR link
Gamuda Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd and WCT Holdings Bhd are among the local construction giants to benefit from the bilateral agreement for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail (HSR) project. It may still be early to work out the size of contracts for local contractors, the theme remains relevant to domestic rail players in our coverage such as Gamuda, IJM Corp and WCT. The HSR lines in Singapore and Malaysia are to be linked by a bridge over the Straits of Johor. A joint-development partner (JDP) will be appointed in early 2017 to assist in the overall implementation of the project. The JDP will provide advice on operational, technical and procurement matters relating to the HSR systems and operations, and is likely to be a reputable international HSR expert. The mammoth project is estimated to cost between RM40bil to RM65bil. (The Star Online)
Scale model of the Datum Jelatek development at the sales gallery (Photo from The Star)
PKNS development arm opens RM4.5mil sales gallery
The Selangor State Development Corporation’s (PKNS) premium development arm, DatumCorp International, has launched its sales gallery at Jalan U Thant, Kuala Lumpur which will feature its first development, Datum Jelatek — an award-winning RM1.2bil GDV integrated development. The RM4.5mil sales gallery will showcase its first project, Datum Jelatek, from the Datum Series, a collection of mid-to-high-end commercial, residential, retail and mixed property developments. Located 3.5km away from KLCC, the development is directly connected to the Jelatek LRT station. It comprises 708 residential units spread across four towers, and linked to a four-storey retail mall. The entire development is targeted to be completed in Q2 2019. (The Star Online)
Electricity tariff rebates for consumers to stay
The Government is keeping the electricity tariff rebate at 1.52 sen/kWh in the peninsula and 1.20 sen/kWh in Sabah and Labuan for the Jan 1-June 30 period next year. It would also forego the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) cost savings of RM766.33mil through an electricity tariff rebate of 1.52 sen/kWh for all users in the peninsula, except for those with a monthly electricity consumption of below 300kW/h. For Sabah and Labuan, a rebate of 1.20 sen/kWh would also be given to users in the same category. With the rebate retention, users will not be paying higher electricity bills if their total electricity consumption remains unchanged. (The Star Online)
Gadang expecting a busy year ahead
Construction and property development firm Gadang Holdings Bhd is expecting next year to be a relatively busy one, after a significant lull in obtaining new contracts. The company, which counts construction as its bread and butter business, is expecting to obtain some jobs that it had earlier bid for – by the first quarter of 2017. It is understood that one of these jobs involves the construction of a hospital. The company is also banking on more jobs from the MRT2 project next year, following its experience with the first phase of the MRT project. The RM9bil LRT Line 3 project is another project it hopes to tender for in the coming year. (The Star Online)
