KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): MRCB George Kent Sdn Bhd said today the government has agreed to continue with the Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3) project at a cost of RM16.6 billion – almost half or 47% of the earlier cost of RM31.45 billion in July.

This includes land acquisition costs, interests during construction and other costs.

"The implementation concept of the project (which connects Bandar Utama with Johan Setia) will be remodelled from a project delivery partner regime to a fixed price contract regime," Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

It added that further announcement to Bursa will be made as and when there is a material development in relation to the project.

On July 11, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed that the projected total cost of LRT3 had spiralled to a whopping RM31.45 billion, blaming it on Prasarana Malaysia Bhd’s poor management. The original estimate when the project was launched in 2015 was RM9 billion.

Guan Eng had then called for a drastic cost reduction to make the project feasible and cost-effective.  

MRCB shares closed up 7.5 sen or 10.42% at 79.5 sen, with 84.23 million shares done, bringing a market capitalisation of RM3.49 billion.