PETALING JAYA: A new disagreement between Prasarana Malaysia Bhd and Scomi Engineering Bhd (SEB) is threatening to derail their plan to settle the RM494mil monorail contract dispute out of court.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, SEB said Prasarana claimed that the third supplemental contract (TSC), aimed at amicably determining the legal proceedings between the parties, had automatically lapsed and become null and void.

Under the TSC, Prasarana and SEB’s unit Scomi Transit Projects Sdn Bhd (STP), which had earlier gone to court over the dispute, had agreed to jointly appoint an independent consultant to determine STP’s claims and Prasarana’s claims under the contracts arising prior to June 23, 2016.

Prasarana, in a letter to STP on May 3, said that the last condition precedent under the TSC had not been fulfilled within the stipulated period, ie, within 21 days from the TSC’s date or any extension not exceeding 40 days from the date of expiry of the original conditions precedent period.

The condition precedent that was not met, as claimed by Prasarana, was the execution by STP’s financiers of a deed of reassignment and revocation that unconditionally and irrevocably revokes the assignment of contract proceeds dated May 30, 2011.

“This was despite STP’s stance that they do, in fact, consider that there has been, by provision of the letter from STP’s financiers, compliance with the terms of TSC and/or the last condition precedent,” said SEB.

Subsequent to Prasarana’s letter, Prasarana and STP continued to discuss the status of satisfaction of the last condition precedent in the presence of third parties, including STP’s financiers.

SEB said this had resulted in STP officially providing certain additional documents to Prasarana on May 16 with regard to the issue, acting on advice and request.

STP is now awaiting Prasarana’s response on the status of the last condition precedent.

SEB said the board would continue to provide updates from time to time on any material developments.

The contract at the centre of the Prasarana-STP dispute involves the upgrading of the Kuala Lumpur monorail stations and the electrical and mechanical system, the construction of a new depot, and delivery of 12 sets of new four-car trains.