RailLink, PTA correct misleading article
09/02/2005
RailLink (a joint venture between John Holland Pty Ltd, McMahon Contractors Pty Ltd and Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd) and the Public Transport Authority wish to make the following comments on the report in today’s edition of The West Australian about the RailLink contract within the New MetroRail project.
- Where issues have arisen within the project, the airing of those issues in public does not, in our view, help their resolution, and we regret that this unauthorised disclosure of a RailLink internal draft document has occurred.
- We are concerned that the article is misleading – it does not give a complete picture of the negotiations under the contract, and quotes figures out of context from documents prepared for other purposes.
- In particular, of the $86 million of items listed in the December monthly report, it is RailLink’s view that only $10.6 million could properly be described as formal claims – RailLink acknowledges that there is no entitlement to rise and fall under the contract, and other items are merely potential future claims. Formal claims in the January monthly report will remain significantly less than $50 million.
RailLink and the PTA today also issued a clarification on contract variations in New MetroRail.
They said: "The report in today’s edition of The West Australian – based on the unauthorised release of an internal RailLink draft document – has created the misleading impression that RailLink will present the Public Transport Authority a January monthly report containing contract variations totalling $102 million.
"To correct this impression, the parties have agreed to make public the fact that the January report, lodged today, contains contract variations totalling $21.4 million. Most of those items have not been accepted by the PTA.
"We do not intend to comment on future monthly reports."