KUALA LUMPUR: Engineering and project management consultant HSS Engineers Bhd has tendered for RM215 million worth of projects across the transportation, port and water sectors
Executive vice-chairman Tan Sri Kuna Sittampalam said the sectors were within its core expertise, with HSS Engineering specialising in rail, road and ports, while SMHB Engineering in the water sector infrastructure engineering.
He said that these initiatives would potentially enable HEB Group to bolster its order book, which stood at RM561.3 million as at 31 March 2020.
“Going forward, with the government needing to jump start the economy, we foresee the construction industry, particularly the infrastructure space to play a major role, as this will provide the necessary larger downstream multipliers to the economy.
“As a key player already involved in existing nation-building projects such as the East Coast Rail Link, Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Line 2, Iskandar Malaysia Bus Rapid Transit and Langat 2 Water Supply Scheme projects, we will leverage our expertise and track record to be involved in future anticipated projects,” he told an online media briefing after HSS Engineers’ Annual General Meeting today.
In the long term, Kuna said public transportation continues to be a priority in the country to sustain economic growth by reducing congestion in urban centres.
As a result, he said there were various proposed projects in the pipeline to combat the issue, namely the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Line 3 and Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System.
In the water sector, he said projects in the pipelines include the Sungai Perak Raw Water Transfer Scheme, Upgrade Works for Water Resource and Supply in Johor, Langkawi Water Supply, Development of Rasau Water Supply Scheme, Sarawak Grid Study, as well as various NRW and Off River Storage projects.
“For the port industry, there is a proposed expansion plan by Westport, our long-term client, to double its container-handling capacity to about twenty–eight million twenty-foot equivalent units a year by 2040.
“Westport has proposed to develop eight additional berths, comprising Container Terminal 10 to Container Terminal 17 to support the expected long-term growth in the coming decades,” he added.
The group also remains committed in its regional expansion plan, but is wary of the impact on regional economies post-Covid-19.
“A certain degree of rising nationalism is expected in Indonesia and the Philippines, as the governments of these countries aim to preserve domestic interests and internal resources by striking a delicate balance in empowering local talents and employing external expertise.
“As a result, we will need to evaluate the commitment of these countries to their high-growth infrastructure development plans, and as such the realistic mid-to-long term opportunities present to the group,” he said.
He said the group expects to remain resilient as it adapts to the “next normal” and continue supporting the nation’s infrastructure development initiatives.
“We are now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially in Malaysia, after the government, on June 7, 2020, announced that the country is now in the recovery phase of the movement control order (MCO).
“In this phase, most of the businesses are allowed to resume operations while adhering to the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Hence, our site offices have started to operate at different levels in accordance to their respective SOPs,” he added. – Bernama
