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Ireka poised to help address urban transportation challenges

KUALA LUMPUR: Ireka Corporation Bhd is at the forefront of efforts towards solving the country's urban transportation challenges via the Automated Rapid Transit (ART) pilot project in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor.

Group executive director Chan Chee Kian said the project was being undertaken by Mobilus Sdn Bhd, a joint venture incorporated in August last year between Ireka and CRRC Urban Traffic Co Ltd, a member of CRRC Group based in Shanghai, China.

"The first ART pilot project will be implemented between December 2020 and February 2021. We believe that upon the successful completion of the project, ART (leading-edge electric tram technology) can be adopted as a new urban transport system to improve the public transport environment in Iskandar Malaysia.

"We also think it is timely to enhance the public transportation system in the smaller cities and towns, to address the high traffic congestion in an overcrowded road network," he told a press conference after the company's annual general meeting here today.

Chan, who is also Mobilus' director and chief executive officer, said Mobilus had also been supporting the Sarawak government and its agencies in assessing the viability of ART for the Kuching Urban Transportation System.

Ireka, which is also involved in construction and property development, is also building its track record in hospital construction, particularly for private healthcare providers.

The company has won the Regency Specialist Hospital project in Johor and is planning to tender for more projects when opportunities arise.

"Apart from that, we are also seeing an encouraging increase in post-Movement Control Order (MCO) sales in our mid-market segment development Dwi@Rimbun Kasia in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, which is likely to be due to our aggressive sales packages and the low-interest rate environment.

"Plans are already in place for other phases of Rimbun Kasia, including an innovative townhouse villa development called Temu," said Chan.

According to Ireka's 2020 annual report, the sales launch for Temu is targeted for the first half of 2022.

On prospects, Ireka group managing director Datuk Lai Voon Hon said he was cautiously optimistic that the construction sector would continue to recover more progressively by the middle of next year.

"We think the situation cannot be any worse than during the MCO period. We are hopeful that most construction projects, especially the mega ones, would resume as the construction sector has the biggest multiplier impact on the economy, ranging from banking activities to stocks and employment," he added.

– BERNAMA

TAGS: Ireka, CRCC Group, ART, Iskandar Malaysia, Urban transport, Property development

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