Just 4 kilometers and eternity

How difficult is it to do a four kilometer extension of LRT2 to Masinag in Antipolo? If we are talking of DOTC bureaucrats, it could well take an eternity. This should be a low hanging fruit P-Noy should be inaugurating by now. They are nowhere near that.

Masinag is that corner where the Marcos Highway intersects with Sumulong Highway. There is a big market in that corner called Masinag so that is probably why commuters refer to this junction as such.

Anyone who has driven in the area during the morning rush hour should be familiar with the sight of multitudes of people trying to catch a ride, mostly towards Metro Manila. A little further is a flood prone portion of Marcos Highway. At times like this, commuting is a horror experience.

Further on from Masinag on Marcos highway is Cogeo, a residential area initially of low level government employees. It is a bedroom community of Metro Manila workers who are there for affordable housing.

There are so many people living in this area who work or study in Metro Manila and they all need affordable mass transport. I was irritated and amused when then DOTC Sec. Mar Roxas said P-Noy ordered a new market study to verify if there is a need to extend LRT2 to Masinag.

That comment made the administration sound stupid and insensitive. The only market study they need to do is to stand at the Masinag corner at about 7 in the morning and see the need.

Indeed, even Henry Sy has put up a mini mall a few meters from Masinag market. The SM guys don’t just build malls and hypermarts unless they are sure there is a market. Why spend millions of pesos on a market study when all they need to do is follow Henry Sy?

It was also hilarious that Mar said then that the two kilometer extension is sure to be built but the other two kilometers is what they want to make sure of its market. Construction people were laughing because of this lack of understanding of how projects like this work by someone calling the shots in an infra agency. The mobilization cost for two or four kilometers is the same.

But in fairness to Mar and P-Noy, they quickly saw the light and they did approve the extension of the LRT2 line by four kilometers to Masinag. I think it should be extended all the way to Cogeo. In other countries, they build mass transit lines even to areas with less density in anticipation of future needs. In this case, there is need for it now.

So DOTC has included the Masinag extension to the list of projects they say they will do but not necessary complete before 2016. Here is the latest news on Masinag based on a news clipping dated March 20, 2013:

In a speech read for Sec. Jun Abaya by DOTC undersecretary Catherine Gonzales in a thrift bank forum Abaya said that the DOTC is hastening the bidding process for infrastructure projects such as mass transport, airports, and seaports. Masinag extension was one of the items mentioned. Hastening? I wonder if we share the same definition of the word.

“Abaya said DOTC is set to bid out a P350 million consultancy contract for the civil works of the P9.7-billion LRT-2 extension project. The LRT-2 project would extend the train line 4.14 kilometers eastward. It would terminate at the intersection of Marcos Highway and Sumulong highway instead of the existing Santolan Station.

“Two stations will be added to the train line; one at Emerald Station in front of Robinson’s Place Metro East and the other at Masinag Junction in Antipolo City. The development is scheduled for completion in 2015.”

All you guys in the Masinag and Cogeo area shouldn’t keep your hopes high just yet. DOTC adopted a bidding process that will delay completion of the project. They decided to split the design part from the construction part. Those familiar with such projects say this is more time consuming and the two contractors are likely to blame each other for hitches.

The ideal approach I am told, is to follow what was done in the twilight years of Ate Glue with regard to the LRT1 extension from Balintawak to Trinoma.

That extension covered a distance of 5.5 km and completed over 24 months, July 2008 to June 2010. But the last station was not built because DOTC/LRTA made a late decision to transfer it in front of SM North EDSA after receiving some royalty payment.

That central station problem persisted and I am not sure if that had been definitely resolved today. I remember hearing Sec. Jun say that they have decided to move it back to the original location near Trinoma so it will also be accessible to MRT7 riders once that line is completed. Sec. Jun said they will return the money paid by SM.

The lesson Sec. Jun and his hapless Usecs should have learned from the Balintawak to Trinoma extension project is that it pays to combine the design and construction contracts in one consortium. It saves time and time is something Sec. Jun doesn’t have.

If it took the First Balfour-DMCI joint venture 24 months to do the 5.5 km, we can imagine it will take more than the two and a half years left in P-Noy’s term to get the four kilometers of Masinag done. And it is important to note that they have not started the bidding process yet and heaven knows when they will.

The other important lesson is that we don’t need foreign funding for projects like this. OK, JICA just approved P19 billion for Masinag and other rail projects at almost minimal interest rate. But it may still turn out more expensive, as past JICA projects did, because of currency risk. Maybe we can ask JICA to denominate the loan in pesos but that’s not likely to happen.

How much did the Balintawak to Trinoma extension cost? Civil works contract was P3.6B. There were other works done by others for power, catenary, signaling and other electro-mechanical works. Whatever the final cost of Balintawak to Trinoma is, Masinag cannot be much more than that.

Did Balintawak-Trinoma need foreign consultants? No foreign consultants were hired for the design although there was one for construction supervision including the detail designs of the Joint Venture. Most importantly, there was no separate contract for design and another one for construction. The civil works was a design-build contract for the FB-DMCI JV. They finished the project as scheduled.

BSP Governor Say Tetangco last week announced that Japan has approved some P19 billion worth of loans that will be used to fund the capacity enhancement of mass transit systems in Metro Manila. The JICA loan in the amount of ¥43.252 billion, or about $43.252 million, and will go to the Mass Transit System Project of DOTC.

The funding will be used to expand the capacity of Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2, and extend their reach from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite, and from Santolan to Masinag, Antipolo. The expansion of the transit system aims to mitigate traffic congestion and air pollution in Metro Manila.

It is not clear how much of that estimated P19 billion is earmarked for Masinag. I am told the amount refers to the funding of the government portion for Lines 1 primarily and Line 2 secondarily. It covers electromechanical components, including additional rail cars. The loan will, however, be useless without the track extension for LRT1 but the bidding for that project had failed.

The other part of the funding in the expansion of the transit systems in Metro Manila will come from the private sector. But as the LRT1 bidding experience indicated, DOTC still has to get the expertise to design a PPP contract that is attractive to private investors.

It is also still unclear when DOTC intends to get going on the Masinag extension. At the rate they are not going, I doubt if this low hanging fruit, just four kilometers extension, will happen within P-Noy’s term. Hay naku, talaga!

Qualification

Nonnyc emailed this one.

A man walks into the Election office and says to the receptionist, “I’d like to register as a candidate for the upcoming elections.”

“The receptionist replied, “Certainly sir. Please fill in this form.’’

As he’s filling the form, he comes to the question, ‘’Are you circumcised?’’

So, he asked the receptionist, “Is answering that question really necessary?”

She replied... “Well, yes, if you’re circumcised, I’m afraid you’re not eligible to run.”

He asked what difference it would make if he was circumcised?

She replied....”To become a politician, you have to be a complete prick.”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco