THE government will only release the full payment for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3’s P128-million interim rolling stock-maintenance deal once its private contractor completes all the requirements laid out on the agreement, transportation officials said.
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said his office is willing to disburse the remainder of the P128-million payment due to Comm Builders and Technology Philippines should the group provide all the necessary upkeep needs of the MRT’s rolling stock and signaling system.
“On our part, we will give what is due [the] people. We don’t have any problem with they payment,” he said.
Comm Builders President Roehl Bacar earlier said the government failed to pay his group for providing the maintenance of two of the MRT’s necessary components.
MRT General Manager Roman Buenafe, for his part, called the lawyers of the private contractor “liars”, explaining that his office has disbursed money to pay what was due the company.
“Their lawyers are liars, we have paid them almost P13 million. I also signed a disbursement voucher for another P9 million. Based on the contract, there is a provision that they should show that they have delivered their services. They have not delivered, according to bin cards,” he said.
Buenafe added that the contractor was “treated fairly,” and he wants them to be paid in full.
“We want them fully paid for their services and the part that they have rendered. But they must deliver,” he said.
Comm Builders, together with Schunk Bahn- und Industrietechnik GmbH, recently protested against the awarding of the P3.8-billion contract for the long-term maintenance of the MRT. In its notice of protest, the company called the awarding unlawful, as the procurement law provides for the suspension of the award of a project until a dispute has been resolved.
The group sought for the reconsideration of its bid for the contract, calling on President Aquino to review his group’s proposal.
The Filipino-German joint venture was disqualified from the emergency-procurement negotiations for submitting its offer 45 minutes late from the supposed deadline for submission of offers.
It said that in an emergency-negotiated procurement, “deadlines should not be enforced strictly” compared to formal and official public biddings. This, according to Bacar, should have been considered as his team had rushed the processing of its offer documents particularly the authentication documents of German firm Schunk since the DOTC negotiating team had not invited it to a “prenegotiation conference” last October.
The consortium of Busan Transportation Corp., Edison Development & Construction, Tramat Mercantile Inc., TMI Corp. Inc. and Castan Corp. on Friday started to maintain the train line.
Comm Builders is also seeking to place whole train system under a massive transformation program to augment its capacity and to provide a safe and comfortable travel to commuters from the northern and southern corridors of Metro Manila.
The P4.64-billion proposal, submitted in February last year with Filipino partner Comm Builders, calls for the complete overhaul of the 73 light-rail vehicles of the MRT, the replacement of the rails, the upgrading of the line’s ancillary system, the upgrade of the track circuit and signaling systems, the modernization of the conveyance system, and a three-year maintenance contract.
The transportation department has yet to formally accept of reject the offer.
Under the amended build-operate-transfer law, the government has to inform the proponent whether it accepts or rejects an unsolicited proposal within 120 days.
The MRT is in a chronic state of decay, with the 16-year-old trains already maxed out of their rated capacities and the rails already experiencing difficulties in handling almost 560,000 passengers per day.