KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- MyHSR Corporation, Malaysia's project delivery vehicle for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (KL-SG HSR), said Wednesday that it has called for a tender to appoint a consultant to assess the social impact of the rail project.
MyHSR said in a statement that the appointed consultant will be required to complete an independent assessment on the social and land use impact arising from the implementation of the KL-SG HSR project within Malaysia.
The tender is open to experienced companies registered with Malaysia's finance ministry, while individual consultants from companies that are responsible to conduct the study must be registered either with the Malaysian Institute of Planner or the Malaysia Social Impact Association, the statement said.
"We encourage firms with relevant experience to participate in the tender to ensure that the KL-SG HSR project is implemented with international standards, not only from the project implementation angle, but also in terms of managing the social and environmental aspects," MyHSR's Chief Executive Officer Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal said in the statement.
The consultants are also required to identify effective mitigation measures for implementation, according to the statement. Meanwhile, the independent assessment study will provide an avenue for the public to share their feedback on matters related to land acquisition, environmental impact and heritage preservation.
The governments of Malaysia and Singapore signed a legally-binding agreement last year on the project, which will cut travel time between the two cities to 90 minutes once it runs into operation by the end of 2026. Companies from China, Japan and Europe have long expressed interests in this project.
