PETALING JAYA: The promoter and developer of the RM43 billion Melaka Gateway reclamation project said today it had filed a legal challenge to the termination of its contract with the Melaka state government.
The company, KAJ Development Sdn Bhd, said it had applied for a judicial review of the state government’s action.
The company said the state government had breached the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act which bars the termination of any construction project that had been suspended because of measures taken to curb the pandemic.
Termination of construction-related projects cannot be made until after Dec 31 or a later date set by the authorities, the company said.
KAJ Development’s chief executive, Michelle Ong, said the three-year land reclamation concession began on Oct 4, 2017. Work on the project was suspended from March 18 when the movement control order came into force.
“We had submitted several written requests to the Melaka state government to extend the land reclamation concession, but they were either ignored or rejected,” she said. Then the notice of termination on Oct 16 stated that the company did not complete the project as scheduled.
Ong said the company could not resume any land reclamation as the foreign experts could not return to Malaysia, together with the equipment required. Work could only resume when all relevant Covid-19 restrictions were fully lifted. “And no one knows when that will be the case,” she said.
KAJ Development is the master developer of the Melaka Gateway project and holds the concession to reclaim and develop three islands spanning 246ha which would include a deep-sea port and Asia’s largest cruise terminal.
In 2018, the company’s port and cruise terminal projects were cancelled by the federal government. The decision was reversed by the transport ministry in November last year on an appeal by the company. The cruise terminal was supposed to be completed by September this year.