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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Thursday, May 4, 2017
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MANILA – Issues surrounding the management and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 remain unresolved. It is time for the Senate to step in, according to Sen. Grace Poe.
Poe is seeking investigation into the allegedly anomalous P3.8-billion maintenance contract between the Benigno Aquino III administration and Busan Universal Rail, Inc. (BURI) and the defective train coaches bought from the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. in China.
“It is imperative for the Senate to conduct an investigation precisely because this issue is a recurring one that has yet to be resolved by the proper government agencies,” Poe said in Senate Resolution No. 355.
Various technical difficulties have been hounding the MRT — derailment, doors failing to close, service interruption, among others — and prompting increasing complaints from the public, she lamented.
Under its contract, BURI was required to maintain all 73 coaches and overhaul 43 coaches.
But the Department of Transportation said not one “has been turned over, delivered and duly accepted” even with the agreement that 17 of the 43 coaches should have been initially overhauled.
Poe cited in her resolution an article by Jarius Bondoc, published in The Philippine Star on April 28, claiming that the three-year contract was awarded to BURI without public bidding.
BURI comprises four local companies: Edision Construction, Tramat Mercantile, TMI Corp., and Castan Corp. Without experience in handling rail maintenance, the contractor used Korea’s Busan Transport Corp., which owns 4 percent of BURI, only for technical knowhow and money, the article said.
The Senate investigation will also look into the 48 new MRT coaches that remain unused for lack of signal system. The Transportation department said the new coaches will not be usable until the next one to one and a half years.
“Both contracts by the previous DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications) need to be reexamined as these involve billions of pesos and directly affect and could possibly endanger the safety and convenience of thousands of commuters,” Poe said./PN
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