collapse stadium - more problems

The rm292 million stadium was completed ready for the Malaysian Games in 2008. The Terrengganu leadership under the Barisan National was happy. Then the disaster struck, a major portion of the roof collapsed. There was report that it was still under warranty. However the real situation is unknown to the majority of the population.

In Malaysia, the awards of the major government tenders are normally done in a closed situation. There is no open tender and only selected companies are invited. The companies may have a close relationship with the leaders. It is unfortunate for the country to have slipped down further in the transparency index, an international attempts to measure the corruptions in countries worldwide.

It is reported that more problems cropped in due to thief. An estimate of rm50 millions of wiring and electrical equipment were reported stolen.

When the newspaper went to investigate, the stadium was in sorry state. Almost all the facilities were damaged. The untra modern bowling alley was broken into. The control room with the expensive equipment was not spared, it look like a war zone.

The official of the stadium played the blaming game when they told that police was informed. The wonder why they cannot get guards to look after the place. Building a fence to protect the stadium was better, even if it can no longer be used for sport events, it can be viewed as a monuments of failure.

Incidently Terrengganu is a very rich state, with the royalty of the oil and gas, the royalty was withdrawn when the opposition took over the state. Some people may have different views on fairness and what is right and wrong

Sabah gas

A new project is in process for petronas for the Sabah gas. Project cost is expected to be rm2bil located at Lahat Datu Sabah. The produce of the project is 200MW of electricity. It will have to main components, the power plant to generate the electricity and the LNG terminal.

We do hope they still remember the bakun dam which was intended to produce 2400 MW of power. A few years ago, the country was very concern about who will be consuming the excess power. There was even talk making the distribution connection to west Malaysia.

It does seem odd that TNB has a standby plant in Langkawi. The shortage of electricity in Sabah is so critical that the dismantling efforts has already started to move the 70MW plants to Sabah. The job is scheduled to complete by July 2012.

Consultants had already been appointed and the initial EIA environmental effect assessment has already started.

Commenting on the Sabah gas project, it is not a good practice to have a long transmission line. The 300 km line is too long as it will be subjected to frequent breakdown due to the lightnings strike and falling trees. If this happen, the whole area will be blackout.

People is baffled by the issue of IPP, or independent power producer, when the government owned TNB had to buy the power at higher cost than the market price. The government insists that this matter is an official secret of the country and suppose to protect the interest of the country. Many feel that this is a business contract, and the official secret acts is used as a matter of convenience to protect other that the country.

satellite RazakSAT

A Malaysian paper published on 22 may 209 carried the news of the Malaysian first remote sensing satellite. It was to be launched on 12 Apr 2009 from US island of Kwajalein.

RazakSAT launch on April 21

Mar 12, 2009 ... After years of postponement, RazakSAT, Malaysia's first remote sensing satellite, will be blasted into space from Kwajalein Island on April 21.

thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/12/nation/...sec...

It was reported that the Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Fadilah Yusof said the satellite was to be flown from Subang to Bucholz Army Airfield, Kwajalein on March 21 by Malaysian Hercules.

RazakSAT, which is also Malaysia's second low orbit microsatellite, was developed through a colloboration of ATSB with Satrec Initiative Ltd of South Korea.

The 180kg satellite is expected to be carried into space on a Falcon One rocket owned by United States' Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) from Kwajalein.

The 2.5mm Medium Sized Aperture Camera on the satellite is expected to provide high resolution images of Malaysia that can be applied to land management, resource development and conservation, forestry, fish migration and security.

According to Fadilah, RazakSAT, also the nation's first observatory satellite, would be launched to an orbital location specifically for Malaysia, to be known as the Equatorial Orbit.

He said the orbital location would enable observation to be made on the earth surface more often, as compared to other observatory satelites, that is, five to six times daily, during daylight.

"Compared to TiongSAT1, which was launched in 2006 and which was more experimental in nature, RazakSAT is considered a functional satellite in monitoring the earth's surface and environment," said Fadilah, adding that the satellite was built at a total cost of RM150 million.

Fadilah said for the first time, together with RazakSAT, two other satellites meant for educational purposes CubeSAT and InnoSAT would also be launched.

Meanwhile, Fadilah said Malaysia had the necessary expertise and capacity to develop its own satellite for sale to other countries.

"There is already a demand from countries like Iran to purchase satellites developed by ATSb," he added. - Bernama

Extracted from the Star.

On 25 Oct 2011, the audit report mentioned that the satellite is 37 km off target. The RM142mil RazakSAT failed to operate since it was launched.

In a test, it was supposed to target raja muda batang berjuntai forest reserve but the picture delivered deviated by 37 km. Correction was to be done by ATSB the original developer, but the subsequent check showed the same problem.

Last year, the minister for science and technology said that allocation under 10 malaysian plan for the next phase called RazakSAT2.

Malacca Monorail

The Malacca monorail had created another headline. In my opinion, it is NOT befitting to a state that self-proclaimed as a developed state, to be in the situation where the firemen had to use ladders to rescue the visiting tourist. It way carry the negative message that we are not capable of handling technology.

Smart Solution...

Mechanics are installing special ladders to enable passengers to climb down in emergency situation. Probably they do not believe that they can improve he reliability of the malacca monorail. I could imagine in the welcoming announcement, the driver will be saying.. 'ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Malacca monorail, a project to commemorate the proclamation of Malacca as a developed states well ahead of the targeted year of 2020. We assure you that this machine will take you through the intended 1.3 km journey even if we have to use our latest locally developed advance state of technology, the Malacca Retractable Ladder".

At 1,11 pm on 1 of 11 2011, the monorail halted to a stop in the middle of its journey. There is no way out, but to call rescue personnel to force open the doors and climb down the ladders.

It is rather unusual that the responsible personnel described the incident as a minor glitch and unavoidable.

As reported on 4 July 2010.

The Star reported that the Malacca monorail project is facing more delays. The much awaited rm16 million along the Malacca River was hitting another snag. The developer was unlikely able to meet the Aug 29 deadline despite the assurance from the chief minister Datuk Seri Mohad Ali Rustom.

According to the Council's chief engineer, there were still components of the projects which has yet to be completed.

The project initially ran into difficulties over the acquisition of land at Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai,” he said.
The track spans 1.6km, from Taman Rempah in Pengkalan Rama to Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai in the heart of the city. The project was launched in March 2008 as part of the state's project to tap on Malacca River as a tourist attraction.

While they might be able to complete construction of the station on time, he noted that the operators of the monorail would still be required to obtain the necessary approvals from the relevant authorities before the monorail was deemed safe for public use.

He said it usually took three weeks to obtain the certificate of fitness.

“We also need to apply for a license from the Transport Minis­try,” he added.

Rafiee estimated that the monorail would be fully operational and open to the public by the end of September.

On Wednesday, Mohd Ali visited the project site after learning that the opening of the monorail for public use had been delayed twice since May 31.

Besides the monorail, several other features such as mini roller coaster ride is also being developed at the Hang Tuah station.

The project is a joint venture between the council, state subsidiary Kumpulan Melaka Berhad and Agibs Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd.

The fate of the malacca monorail project remind us of the situation of eye of Malaysia, which was abandoned due to the financial problems.

1bestari net - Big Money in Smart School

The local paper carried the news about RM1.5 billion ringgit budgeted for the contract to supply internet access to virtual learning for 9924 school under Smart School Bestari project. Just to align it to the 1malaysia concept, the project was rename as 1bestarinet.

Malaysian are known to change the theme when the leadership change. Under the previous PM, the theme was.."Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang". And now is 1 Malaysia.

The idea and the implementation of the smart school was part of the 7 flagship of MSC. If you go the MSC, it still mentioned about the smart school as..."Smart School
Following the Education Development Blueprint (2006-2010), to ensure that all schools in Malaysia `Be Smart` by 2010 and assuring Smart School Qualification standards adopted throughout for quality assurance, this application is not only an investment benefit for the general society, but also a benefit for businesses for the up and coming future as it ensures that the future generations of workers or employees are more tech savvy and well versed and in tune with the ever rapidly progressing digital age."

Now it is 2011, and the billion ringgit investments were burned in smoke. The new project will draw billion ringgit for the contractors, but without accountability, it will be another smoke screen.

Incidently the link to smartschool at

http://www.mscmalaysia.my/topic/12073046901815 leads to a blank/

puduraya opened in April

The main bus station in kuala lumpur Malaysia was reopened on the 16 April 2011, after about 4 months of delay. This is a reflection of Malaysian Project Management for government based projects.

It is not unusual to have delays and sometime major defects or even parts of the buiding fallen apart, like the stadium in Terengganu.

The bus station was supposed to reopen in December in 2010, then delayed to February, then March and then April.

The star reported..."Raja Nong Chik said the developer, Uda Holdings Berhad, had informed him that all the preparations were going on smoothly for the terminal to resume operations on schedule"... He seem to be unaware or may be do not care about the prolonged delay.

Puduraya bus station to reopen April 16 Apr 2, 2011 ... PUTRAJAYA: The upgraded Hentian Puduraya bus terminal is to reopen on April 16 after several postponements, said Federal Territories and ... thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/4/2/...

The refurnishing of the building was intended to provide comfort to the travelling public. However in many cases, the facilities are overbuild and above the needs of the bus companies and the public. This had added cost to the public. The central ticket systems, the like of that in Bandar Tasik Putri and added to the cost of travelling. Bus companies used to issue their own tickets, and they even have their computer system linked to the seating configuration of their fleet. To use a centralizes system will be additional cost.

Puduraya bus station is centrally located, unfortunately positioned right in the and has to face the daily jam.

Kimanis Power Station

Petronas is set to finance the RM2.2bil power station project at Lahat Datu, in Sabah Malaysia. The 300MW gas powered station will be operated using natural gas. A liquefied natural gas plants will be set up to supply the gas to the power station.

Petronas Gas to raise funding for Kimanis plant Jul 22, 2011 ... KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) will raise 80% of the RM1.5bil for the gas-fired power plant inKimanis, Sabah via project financing ... biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/7/22/business/20110722115551&sec=business

---------

The extract from the Star newspaper is given below:

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) wants to raise RM1.2bil to finance its 300MW gas-fired Kimanis power plant in Sabah, through project financing while the balance will be through equity financing.

“The total cost of the power plant is RM1.5bil. We are looking at financing 80% of it through project financing,” chairman Datuk Anuar Ahmad told reporters after its annual general meeting yesterday.

Asked if PetGas had secured the funding, he said it was currently finalising details with both local and foreign banks.

It is understood that PetGas was looking at sukuk bonds or a term loan as options for the 80% of the funding and the balance 20% would be funded via equity.

PetGas also targets to sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) “soon” for the Kimanis plant.

According to analysts, the PPA for Kimanis would be finalised soon, while the regasification service agreement might be signed by end-2011 to be able it to commission the plant in July 2012.

The company had entered into a shareholders agreement with NRG Consortium (Sabah) Sdn Bhd to provide operation and maintenance services for the 300MW power plant. NRG is a wholly-owned unit ofInnoprise Corp, which in turn is wholly-owned by Yayasan Sabah. PetGas holds a 60% stake in the joint venture.

The Kimanis power plant will be the largest independent power producer in Sabah. Located at over 21 ha, the first block of the Kimanis power plant is scheduled to be commissioned at end-2013 while the remaining two blocks in 2014 to meet Sabah's increasing electricity demand.

Meanwhile, the company expects its revenue to grow another 10% per annum once its regasification plant in Malacca is completed by July next year.

PetGas managing director/CEO Samsudin Miskon said the regasification plant in Malacca had been progressing well and was on track for completion.

On capital expenditure, he said PetGas had allocated some RM800mil to RM1bil this year for plant rejuvenation, revamp and also the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the Kimanis plant.

Commenting on the listing of Gas Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Anuar said PetGas had approved the listing of Gas Malaysia but no timeframe for the listing had been set. “I think it will be some time this year,” he said.

PetGas has a 20% stake in Gas Malaysia, while MMC Corp Bhd has 41.8%, Tokyo Gas-Mitsui & Co (Holdings) Sdn Bhd 25% and Shapadu Holdings the rest.

power plant for SEB

Sarawak Energy BHD is investing RM2.5bil to build 600mw of coal powered plants at Balinian.

For the last one year we had seen the news about Bakun Dam project built by the federal government during the era of Mahathir. One of the main concern was to get enough consumers for the excessive energy. There was talk about building tin smelting plants which will likely to use a sizeable amount of the power produced. The Bakun dam cost the tax payer around RM8bil and it does not include the distribution line which can cost equally as high.

The new coal plan is expected to be completed by 2015. Currently SEB has 2 plants, in Mukah - 270MW and another in Kuching producing 210MW. It is also constructing another dam at Murun giving 944MW.

The present Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud announced that 26bil investments is set for 2 year period.

Incidently Taib Mahmud had made a public promise in the last election to vacate the office.

read the original news below...

SEB to invest RM2.5bil in a 600MW coal-fired plant Jul 14, 2011 ... KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) is close to making “a final ... More power: SEB has to cope with the strong demand for power from ... biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/7/14/business/9096898&sec=business

MRT first line cost RM20bil

Although the actual planned cost of the Kuala Lumpur MRT project will only be revealed in September 2011, it is estimated the cost of the first 3 lines to be in the region of RM20bil.

The first line will be from Sungai Buluh to Kajang, a distant of 51km, including 9.5km underground. The cost on the underground part will be high, nearly rm800 thousand per km.

The project will be managed by Gamuda with a new term PDP, project delivery partner. It is not clear the role of PDP. Some may think it like the company created in the purchase of the malaysian submarine, where rm500mil commission was paid. The person involved was the close associate to Najib, the responsible minister it that time.

read the feed further..

First MRT line likely to cost RM20bil

Jul 9, 2011 ... KUALA LUMPUR: Although the actual cost of the country's first mass rapid transit (MRT) system will be disclosed in September due to a 50% ...

biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/7/9/business/9066355&sec=business

The Saga of Terengganu Stadium

It was reported in the star that the repair to the damaged stadium will be done next year.

The MB of Terengganu, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said the state government decided to go ahead with the repair because the damage get worsen due to the long neglect.

The repair will start with the football field followed by the roof. Most likely new roof will be ade of lighter material.

The Public work department will be issuing a tender document.

It was not known whether the collapse happen while the stadium is under warranty. There was such a report, and it would be a logical step that the contractor would be liable to do the repair. However logic may not necessarily applicable here.

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In Mar 2010, the newspaper reported that the repair of the collapsed roof should be done by the contractor as the stadium was still under the warranty

A few important issues were raised:

1. Serious engineering flaws, shoddy workmanship, inferior materials and lack of expertise in the key project management team were found to be the main contributing factors behind the roof collapse of Terengganu Stadium at Gong Badak.

2. the project management team did not have the necessary skills and competence to manage a project

All-round flaws caused stadium roof collapse

Mar 11, 2010 ... Also, repair works should be undertaken by a specialist contractor. ... a year after the handover and the stadium was still under warranty. ...

thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/11/nation/5841338&sec=nation

On 11 Jun 2011, It was reported that the repair has not started.

Stadium repairs to begin by year-end

Jun 11, 2011 ... KUALA TERENGGANU: Repairs to the roof of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium here which collapsed two years ago are expected to get off ...

thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/11/nation/8879938&sec=nation

There was not mention that the repair will be conducted by the contractor. It had been two long years after the collapse. I believe that Terengganu does not have any problem with cash as the state is given the oil royalty.

The royalty was stopped when the state fell to the opposition, a situation many people find it hard to understand. But given the situation of the collapse roof and a few more buildings, then the logic seem clearer.. . If you cannot manage a 300 mil project, how can you manage a billion dollars assignment.