The Department of Transportation is set to sign an agreement with Sumitomo Corporation and its technical partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) railway system by the end of the year.
The DOTr said the maintenance deal would be pursued through an Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the Government of Japan.
“High-level discussions with the Government of Japan are ongoing to pave the way for DOTr’s direct engagement of Sumitomo Corporation and its technical partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, under a Government to Government (G2G) Official Development Assistance (ODA) platform. A G2G agreement is scheduled to be signed before yearend,” the department said in a statement Wednesday.
The contract which will include the rehabilitation and restoration of the railway system to its original performance standards is expected to last for three years.
DOTr has created a Maintenance Transition Team that has taken over the maintenance of the MRT for three to six months while it is in the process of procuring a new maintenance service provider following the termination of the previous maintenance contract with Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) last November 6 due to various issues.
The department particularly cited BURI’s failure to overhaul MRT-3’s train cars in compliance with the maintenance contract as only two out of 43 train cars have been overhauled as of November 21.
These failures resulted to several incidents of passenger unloading and train removal for the duration of BURI’s maintenance of the MRT which started January 2016.
“BURI’s termination is intended to promote accountability, and to ensure that taxpayers’ money (PHP 54 million a month for maintenance and PHP 907 million for the overhaul) is not spent on a non-performing service provider,” DOTr explained.
The MTT has hired over 450 former employees of BURI that are essential for the maintenance of the MRT while the Light Rail Transit Authority and the Philippine National Railways have provided their qualified and experienced technical engineers.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has created the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) that will expedite the procurement of some critical rehabilitation services and spare parts.
The department is also pursuing an unsolicited proposal on the operations and maintenance of MRT for 30 years.
Original proponent status has been granted to the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation which will be submitted to the National Economic Development Authority and will undergo Swiss Challenge once approved. The procurement mode will enable companies to make competing offers while giving the original proponent to match them.(PNA)
