The House of Representatives will review the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by the government and private players for the common terminal linking Light Railway Transit (LRT) Line 1 and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Lines 1 and 7.
Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said the MOA on the common MRT-LRT station should undergo close scrutiny in Congress because it would cost the government an estimated P2.8 billion.
Alvarez added that he wants to ensure that construction of the common station would be beneficial to the riding public and not merely for big businesses involved in the project.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday by Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar with LRT Authority Administrator Reynaldo Berroya, SM Prime Holdings Inc. Executive Chairman Hans T. Sy, Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) Vice Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, San Miguel Corp. President and COO Ramon S. Ang and North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp., represented by Ayala Land Inc. Vice Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.
Among other concerns, Alvarez said the so-called win-win solution under the MOA would necessarily entail additional cost for the government.
“This is bad news because it would cost the government billions of pesos. Now, my question—is that common station beneficial to the riding public or just for the interest of big businesses?” Alvarez asked.
According to Alvarez, the common-station project was delayed because of the conflicting interests of big private players.
The project grounded to a halt when, in 2014, SM Prime obtained a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court to stop the DPWH from transferring the originally planned location of the common station in front of SM North Edsa to a location near
TriNoma mall.
SM Prime sued the previous transportation department for changing the location of the common station even with an existing naming rights contract with the government. Former transportation officials decided to move the location due to its cost benefits.
“The government should prioritize the interest of the public and not the interest of the big businesses,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez added that House Transportation Committee Chairman and PDP-Laban Rep. Cesar V. Sarmiento of Catanduanes, who has been closely following developments in the common-station project, was surprised by the reported MOA signing.
“Congressman Sarmiento was surprised by the signing. The House Committee on Transportation will conduct a hearing on the matter [soon],” Alvarez said.
The common station will be a 13,700-square-meter facility with three key areas. Area A is where the platform and concourse for the LRT 1 and MRT 3 will be located. The cost for the construction of this portion—pegged at around P2.8 billion—will be shouldered by the government. Area B, on the other hand, will connect Area A to Area C, which is where the platform for the MRT 7 will be located. The second area will also boast of an atrium that can accommodate up to 40,000 passengers per day.
Based on the contract signed with LRMC, the common station should be finished by April 2019. Currently, the government is working on bidding out the detailed engineering and design contract for the project. Construction should start by December.
The Department of Transportation said the design of the common station, which will bear the name of SM, will put into consideration a traffic-management plan that will be approved by the traffic-crisis body.