DOTC to pick new contractor for MRT 3 maintenance

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will be signing a contract with a new firm for the maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 as it decided not to renew an existing contract with Japanese company Sumitomo Corp. In a telephone interview yesterday, DOTC secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the agency has decided not to renew the contract for the maintenance of the MRT with Sumitomo which will expire on Friday. “DOTC feels this is the responsibility of MRTC (Metro Rail Transit Corp.) but since they have not bidded the contract, we took it upon ourselves to handle it,” he said. “Given period available, we are forced to enter into an emergency procurement for a new contract,” he said further. He said the agency decided not to extend the contract with Sumitomo as its price was a bit high. The agency’s negotiating team, he said, spoke with three parties for the emergency procurement. He said the three parties offered a concession fee and the contract will be awarded to the lowest bidder. He declined to name the three parties. Abaya also said the agency is aiming to sign the contract with the new firm before the contract with Sumitomo expires. “We will be signing the contract before the 19th,” he said. “There will be no lull in terms of responsibility of maintenance of the MRT,” he said further. In a related development, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday it was not against the DOTC’s move to look for a new firm for the maintenance of the MRT 3. MPIC has a stake in MRTC. The firm said the responsibility for the procurement of a new maintenance provider for the MRT 3 has been transferred to the DOTC in November 2010 and while it has been requesting the return of such function, there is not enough time for MRTC to conduct a proper solicitation for a new interim maintenance provider within the two-week period offered by the department. “MRTC is not abdicating its responsibility to maintain MRT 3 but the DOTC left MRTC with no choice but to have DOTC take responsibility for the interim period,”it said. The MPIC also said the MRTC has advised the DOTC it is willing to resume the responsibility of maintaining the MRT 3 after the expiration of the DOTC’s interim maintenance contract. The MRT 3 spans North Avenue station in Quezon City until Taft Avenue station in Pasay City.