Malaysian rail link not affected by virus crisis: Project owner
800 workers from China stayed in Malaysia during CNY, while 200 who returned to mainland back at work after self-quarantine, it says
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The East Coast Rail Link, which links Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and administrative capital Putrajaya to the east coast states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan, is expected to be completed by December 2026.
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Hazlin Hassan Malaysia Correspondent In Kuala Lumpur, Hazlin Hassan
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Construction of Malaysia's biggest mega project, the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), has not been affected by the coronavirus outbreak, though some 1,000 project workers are from mainland China, the project owner said yesterday.
Some 200 workers from China had landed back in Malaysia after the Chinese New Year holidays.
They have returned to work after completing 14 days of self-quarantine at their base camps, Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak, chief executive of project owner Malaysia Rail Link, told a news conference.
There are 13 other workers from Wuhan in Hubei province, China, who have been told not to come to Malaysia "for the moment", but are currently working remotely from home, said Mr Darwis.
Many of these workers are management-level staff and so their absence from the development site "will not affect our construction at the moment", he said.
The other mainland Chinese workers in the project, numbering some 800 people, had remained in Malaysia instead of flying back to China for the holidays.
The China-led project, linking Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and administrative capital Putrajaya to the east coast states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan, is Malaysia's biggest mega project.
Last April, China reduced the cost for building the ECRL to RM44 billion (S$14.9 billion) from the original RM65.5 billion agreed by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
China also agreed to a 50:50 joint venture to operate the 640km line across Peninsular Malaysia, thus reducing Kuala Lumpur's financial risks.
The previous arrangement was for Malaysia to shoulder the entire cost of operation and maintenance.
A ride on the ECRL - which is expected to be completed by December 2026 - from Kelantan's state capital Kota Baru to Putrajaya will take just four hours - a little over half the time needed for a car ride between the two places.
About 10 per cent of the line was already built before the project was suspended in 2018, following BN's loss in the general election, as the new Pakatan Harapan government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad negotiated for lower project costs.
The project is now 15 per cent completed after work resumed last July on tunnels and viaducts along its route in Terengganu - from Dungun, Terengganu, to Mentakab, Pahang.
Mr Darwis said yesterday that the virus outbreak is not expected to affect the construction progress and loan disbursements from China's Exim Bank.
"As far as funds disbursement is concerned, there is no issue about it. Everything is progressing well... we do not anticipate any issue," he added.
China Communications Construction ECRL's managing director, Mr Bai Yinzhan, who was also present at the news conference, said: "I am very confident that this outbreak will be over soon."
The company is the project's main contractor.
Yesterday, Terengganu state-owned company Terengganu Incorporated, China Communications Construction ECRL and Malaysia Rail Link signed a memorandum of understanding pertaining to the portion of the ECRL running though this state.
Malaysia Rail Link has formed a joint venture firm with China Communications Construction to operate and maintain the project.
