PH, Japan governments forging deal for MRT-3 maintenance

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) today said that high level talks with the Japanese government is currently underway to negotiate for the return of Sumitomo Corporation as maintenance provider of MRT-3.

“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,” DOTr said.

It added that a government-to-government agreement is set to be signed before the year ends.

“Sumitomo and Mitsubishi Heavy designed, built, and maintained the MRT-3 in its first 12 years of operations,” DOTr said.

The contract will be a three-year deal for the “rehabilitation and restoration of the system to its original performance standards.”

DOTr added that it is currently studying the unsolicited proposal of Metro Pacific Light Rail Corporation (MPLRC) to operate and maintain (O&M) MRT-3 for 30 years.

“The proposal will soon be endorsed to NEDA for further evaluation,” DOTr said.

https://www.update.ph/2017/11/ph-japan-governments-forging-deal-for-mrt-3-maintenance/23004

DOTr to bring back original MRT maintenance providers

The Department of Transportation has announced a four-point strategy to improve the services of the Metro Rail Transit 3, which includes engaging a former maintenance contractor for the train line.

"The Department of Transportation is taking bold and strategic steps to solve the problems that have been plaguing the MRT-3 for years," the agency said in a statement released Wednesday.

Among the steps that the DOTr had taken was to terminate the maintenance service contract of Busan Universal Rail Inc.

The contract with BURI was terminated on November 6 following its failure to overhaul MRT-3's train cars and to procure spare parts, leading to glitches and incidents during the 22 months that the company maintained the train system.

"BURI’s termination is intended to promote accountability, and to ensure that taxpayers’ money — P54 million a month for maintenance and P907 million for the overhaul — is not spent on a non-performing service provider," the DOTr said.

Maintenance Transition Team

Following the termination of BURI's contract, the DOTr created a maintenance transition team (MTT) that would maintain the MRT-3 for three to six months while looking for a new maintenance service provider.

The MTT directly hired more than 450 former BURI employees to make sure the team has necessary human resources.

"After months of delayed and partial salaries, the MTT has paid the direct hire their salaries in full and on time, which has boosted their morale," the government agency said.

RELATED: MRTC, Sumitomo eye MRT-3 rehab

Return of Sumitomo, Mitsubishi Heavy

Meanwhile, the DOTr is also conducting high-level discussions with the Japanese government for the possible return of Sumitomo Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as maintenance service provider of the MRT-3.

Sumitomo and Mitsubishi were the original service providers of the train system for its first 12 years of operation.

The Philippine government is hoping to close a government-to-government agreement with Japan before the end of the year.

The DOTr said the system's problems in recent years were due to short-term and fragmented maintenance contracts. To address this, the agency is pursuing a 30-year operation and maintenance proposal for the MRT-3.

"With the bump in ridership expected as we approach the holidays, the public can be assured that the DOTr is pursuing all avenues to restore the MRT-3’s reliability and to continue ensuring the safety of its 500,000 daily riders," the DOTr said.

Last week, the DOTr filed plunder charges against former Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and other former members of the Aquino Cabinet over the allegedly anomalous maintenance contract for MRT-3. Roxas was Transportation secretary before being appointed to head the Department of the Interior and Local Government in 2012.

Former Bids and Awards Committee and BURI officials were also charged over the allegedly anomalous contact.

RELATED: DOTr bares persons of interest in MRT sabotage