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MANILA, Philippines – No bidders showed up for the P2.2-billion ($49.20 million*) maintenance contract for the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT3), the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said Wednesday, October 29.
The government deferred the bids submission twice, the latest was to October 28. The original deadline was October 13.
The government is now reviewing the terms of reference for the 3-year maintenance contract due to the issues raised by the prospective bidders, said MRT-3 and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) spokesman Hernando Cabrera.
Some of the concerns raised by prospective bidders were the amount of penalties to be imposed by the government on the maintenance contractor for certain violations, plus the key performance indicators (KPIs) to be delivered.
The government is set to republish by November the new terms and conditions for the rebidding, Cabrera said.
Interested bidders include DMCI Holdings Incorporated, Miescorrail Incorporated of the Manila Electric Company, Busan Metro of Korea, the joint venture of Mosa – Inekon of Czech Republic, and SMRT International Pte. Ltd.
DOTC prefers a longer maintenance contract. Currently, the DOTC has a one-year contract with Autre Porte Technique Global Incorporated (APT) and its local partner, Global Incorporated.
The DOTC is only extending the one-year contract of APT Global, which expired in July, on a monthly basis. The contract is renewed for P57 million ($1.27 million) per month.
The maintenance contractor is currently facing penalties worth P27.1 million ($606,114) for the glitches that occurred when a train derailed at the Taft Avenue station in Pasay City on August 13.
The 1-month extended maintenance contract of APT would likely be extended until a new maintenance contract is awarded.
The 16.9-kilometer mass transit system was aimed to alleviate traffic congestion along EDSA. The rail system had a fleet of 73 modern and air-conditioned rail cars built by CKD Doprovni System of Prague in the Czech Republic.
Completed in July 2000, it has a design capacity of 350,000 passengers a day. To date, it services around 540,000 passengers per day or about 55% beyond its design capacity.
Apart from the August 13 accident, MRT3 operations hampered by a series of breakdowns due to non-working communications system. Flooding is a problem as well.
The government also expects to purchase the privately-owned equity shares of the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) in the first week of January 2015.
The government allotted P56 billion ($1.25 billion) for the equity value buyout. The amount was included in the P2.26-trillion ($50.52-billion) national budget for 2015. – Rappler.com
($1 = P44.74)
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