S$500 million dollars looks set to go up in smoke for the Land Transport Authority.
Added to that, a derailment of plans to finish the part of the Downtown Line on time.
This comes after the contractor hired by the LTA, Alpine Bau, declared bankruptcy.
The LTA is seeking to claim S$500 million from the Austrian builder for not completing the project.
That’s possibly the biggest claim of its kind in Singapore.
But it’s unlikely that the LTA will get to recoup the full amount.
“Alpine Bau GmbH (Singapore branch) is in the process of being wound up and we have filed our proof of debt with the liquidator – Stone Forest Corporate Advisory Pte Ltd.
“We have also filed a proof of debt with the administrator of Alpine Bau GmbH in its home jurisdiction of Austria.”
The Austrian builder was working on the King Albert Park, Sixth Avenue and Tan Kah Kee stations of Downtown Line 2 when it filed for insolvency in June 2013.
Despite having appointed two other builders – Australia’s McConnell Dowell and Korea’s SK E&C – to take over Alpine’s contracts, and having them work round the clock, the LTA indicated that completion of the line will be delayed by at least three months.
The LTA is likely to be saddled with a bigger bill.
It awarded contracts to Alpine Bau in 2009 for $670.7 million.
Soon after the builder filed for insolvency, the LTA re-awarded the uncompleted projects to the two new contractors for $476 million.
