By SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / Pic By TMR File

THE government is expected to engage consultants to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for the proposed development of an integrated maritime city on Carey Island, Selangor, this month.

Port Klang Authority (PKA) GM Capt K Subramaniam said the port authority is currently reviewing the bids from 18 selected consultancy firms in the second stage of the request for proposal.

“We have already called for the second stage and now we are evaluating the firms. Initially, there were about 30 companies (that were interested to participate in the study), but we had to reduce them to 18. Now, we have a smaller number to work with.

“The process could take about a month and the consultants should be appointed by the third week of June,” he told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) recently. However, Subramaniam said the PKA has not decided on the number of consultants to be appointed.

“At this stage, we have no idea how many of them would be appointed as we are still looking through the proposals. It is too early to say if a company should conduct the entire study, or it should be done by a couple of consultants working together.

“We can only decide after a team from the PKA has gone through the evaluation, which we are doing right now,” he said.

Subramaniam said the tender, which was supposed to be announced in November 2018, was held back due to the significant number of submissions from foreign companies, which required an additional process of approval from the Ministry of Finance.

“It is a long process because we have to follow the procedures, which are taking a longer time that they should.

“For example, the moment there is a foreign consultant submitting a tender, we have to write to the authority to get the approval and that would take some time.

“We also have to make sure all the consultants have their backgrounds checked to see whether they are qualified. It will take a little bit longer, but we are on track,” he said.

Subramaniam also said once the consultants have been appointed, the study will require a year to be completed in order to determine the viability of Carey Island hosting a maritime city.

In October, Subramaniam told TMR that the port authority had identified between 25 and 30 consultants approved by the Ministry of Transport to bid for the feasibility study.

Prior to that, the government announced the RM200 billion container terminal and integrated maritime city project would be put on hold until PKA could determine the viability of the island for the development.

Fast forward to April, MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd and India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to carry out the study for the proposed development.

The agreement was nullified when Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the study will be carried out independently by PKA, but remained tight-lipped on the estimated cost of the study.

Loke also said the study would be fully borne by the port authority, and later to be supported by the concession companies in the event the development takes place.

The third port project in Klang was first mooted by the previous administration in January 2017. It would cater up to an annual capacity of 30 million 20-foot equivalent units — relatively higher than Port Klang’s current capacity.

The project, to be located about 50km from the two existing ports in Klang, is estimated to cost RM140 billion and expected to be completed within the span of 20 years.

The integrated maritime city was planned to host free trade zones, industrial parks, as well as commercial and residential buildings.