The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is in final stages of discussion with the Malaysian Finance Ministry, the Economic Planning Unit and related state governments for an undisclosed loan amount for the Pahang-Selangor water project.
Valued at US$ 526 m, the project would consist of a reservoir to be constructed in central Pahang and a 40-km underground pipeline from Sungai Telemung in Pahang to the Klang Valley, according to the JBIC chief representative Harumi Ao in Kuala Lumpur. He estimated that the project, which will make up for the expected water shortages in 2007, would be opened for public tender by the Public Works Department (JKR), the earliest in the fourth quarter.
Several construction and engineering companies from the USA, France, Germany and Japan had been eyeing the construction works for the water project, he added. The project would take five to six years to complete with seven years the maximum period allowed by the Malaysian government. The project is part of the US$1.7 b project under Japan's Miyazawa Plan for infrastructure projects.
Construction of the reservoir and pipeline was supposed to start at the end of 1999 but was delayed due to environmental issues, bureaucratic matters between the Japanese and Malaysian governments and extensive feasibility studies of the project. According to Ao, the Malaysian government expressed concerns about the delay and wanted to speed up the project.
