The newly-constructed Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH) expressway that connects Puncak Perdana to Penchala in the Klang Valley was officially opened to the public on 13 October.
While the expressway is expected to benefit the millions of road users, it appears that a few subcontractors of the project were not on the receiving end of this mega project.
According to Getaran, a lawyer representing the group of disgruntled subcontractors, Mathew Thomas Philip took to his Facebook page to share that he is now helping them to recover RM80 million of unpaid debts.
“Thumbs down to the people who profited unfairly or mismanaged the opportunities given to them, and then caused hardship to the many innocent subcontractors who did not get paid on this Dash Highway,” Philip wrote.
“I see the difficulties the DASH Highway has caused them, their families, their own employees, agents, and suppliers resulting from the unpaid work relating to the construction of the DASH Highway.”
On 13 October, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the 20.1km expressway will be open to public and it will be free of charge from 14 October 2022 at 12.01 am until 30 November 2022.
The new expressway is expected to reduce congestion on several major roads by up to 40% during peak hours and reduce travelling time from Puncak Perdana to Penchala by 60 minutes.
Subcontractors need pay too
Meanwhile, Philip also said that some rules should be imposed to ensure fairness to all those who worked on the public infrastructure project as it would eventually be paid by the people who use the expressway.
“I wonder what it is like for them to drive on this highway that they helped build, but which may be the cause of their own financial hardship because they have not been paid and may never be paid for the work they have done,” Philip said.
He also said that the real cost of this DASH expressway in terms of unpaid work and bankruptcies remained unknown.
Nonetheless, he shared that his law firm is handling RM80 million in debts relating to DASH alone, but there could be more out there.
“I spared a thought for them this morning and hope that I can use my skills to mitigate the losses they will suffer from the construction of the DASH Highway,” he added.
