Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Phnom Penh Post
Toll Group has informed the Cambodian government that it will suspend all railway operations and lay off half of its Cambodian staff at the end of the month, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The Australian logistics firm, which in partnership with Royal Group of Companies holds a 30-year lease to operate the Kingdom’s national railway, reportedly told the government of its plan last Friday, Paul Power, a consultant to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MPWT), told the Post yesterday.
“The major reason is the rehabilitation [of the railway] is well behind schedule. And Toll believes, rightly or wrongly, the schedule of rehabilitation doesn’t meet with their business objectives,” he said by phone, adding that discussions between Toll and the Cambodian government had been ongoing since last summer.
Power presently works as project coordinator for MPWT, upgrading the ministry’s Railway Department. Council of Ministers claimed they still had no knowledge of Toll’s announcement that it would suspend operations.
Depite Toll’s complaints, the rehabilitation process has seen “marked improvements” of late, Philip Bulmer, deputy project manager for the southern line with Nippon Koei, said.
Nippon Koei is a railway engineering firm also working on the project.
Sinopacific Construction Corp, which is registered in Vietnam but has roots in Taiwan and mainland China, has “recently mobilised significant resources” to jump-start the rebuilding, he said.
SPCC is in a joint venture with France’s TSO restore the railway.
“Everybody’s working hard now to attain limited commercial operation by October of this year,” Bulmer said of the southern line.
The southern line was originally projected for completion in late 2010, but was later pushed back to May 2011.
Full completion is now expected in January next year, Bulmer said.
He blamed the rehabilitation delays on “contractual issues”, but declined to comment further.
If Toll Group aimed to prompt faster rehabilitation by suspending operations, the company may have made a mistake, MPWT consultant Power said.
Toll is presently leasing its trains to TSO to carry construction material and equipment to work sites.
But with operations now coming to a halt, the rebuilding will most likely move even more slowly, Power said.
“I don’t think it’s a good strategy, but I’m not an investor,” he said of Toll’s decision.
“We don’t have the trains to complete the rehab.”
Power called the status of the rail project an “uncertain situation”, saying “the government needs to measure the impact of Toll’s suspension of service and consider its options”.
“The major reason is the rehabilitation [of the railway] is well behind schedule. And Toll believes, rightly or wrongly, the schedule of rehabilitation doesn’t meet with their business objectives,” he said by phone, adding that discussions between Toll and the Cambodian government had been ongoing since last summer.
Power presently works as project coordinator for MPWT, upgrading the ministry’s Railway Department. Council of Ministers claimed they still had no knowledge of Toll’s announcement that it would suspend operations.
Depite Toll’s complaints, the rehabilitation process has seen “marked improvements” of late, Philip Bulmer, deputy project manager for the southern line with Nippon Koei, said.
Nippon Koei is a railway engineering firm also working on the project.
Sinopacific Construction Corp, which is registered in Vietnam but has roots in Taiwan and mainland China, has “recently mobilised significant resources” to jump-start the rebuilding, he said.
SPCC is in a joint venture with France’s TSO restore the railway.
“Everybody’s working hard now to attain limited commercial operation by October of this year,” Bulmer said of the southern line.
The southern line was originally projected for completion in late 2010, but was later pushed back to May 2011.
Full completion is now expected in January next year, Bulmer said.
He blamed the rehabilitation delays on “contractual issues”, but declined to comment further.
If Toll Group aimed to prompt faster rehabilitation by suspending operations, the company may have made a mistake, MPWT consultant Power said.
Toll is presently leasing its trains to TSO to carry construction material and equipment to work sites.
But with operations now coming to a halt, the rebuilding will most likely move even more slowly, Power said.
“I don’t think it’s a good strategy, but I’m not an investor,” he said of Toll’s decision.
“We don’t have the trains to complete the rehab.”
Power called the status of the rail project an “uncertain situation”, saying “the government needs to measure the impact of Toll’s suspension of service and consider its options”.
1 comment:
no enough money to give to this corrupted government. they don't want to improve the country infrastructure they want to improve their pocket.
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