Expert finds nothing irregular in TOR of MRT expansion proj

MANILA, Philippines - An international rail expert tapped by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) found nothing irregular in the terms of reference used by the government to bid out a P3.8-billion contract for the procurement of trains for the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT3) along EDSA.

A source said findings of Barry Gardner, who has 45 years experience in international rail projects, showed nothing wrong with the process used by the DOTC in bidding out the P3.8 billion MRT3 capacity expansion program.

“Generally there seems to be no issue,” the source said.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya earlier announced that the DOTC would tap a consultant to review the terms of the bidding process after Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar came out in the open late last June and disclosed that a group that included MRT general manager Al Vitangcol III tried to extort $30 million from Prague-based Inekon Group.

The consultant would determine whether or not the terms of reference of the bidding for the acquisition of 48 new LRVs for the MRT3 along EDSA favored a certain bidder.

“If there are no irregularities in the TOR then the notice to proceed would be issued right after,” he said.

As early as January, the Inekon group through the Ambassador to the Philippines of Czech Republic offered to sell trains to the Philippine government under a concessional loan scheme through overseas development assistance (ODA).

The Inekon group was part of the five companies that bought bidding documents from the DOTC but did not join the bidding.

The joint special bids and awards committee of the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) is in the process of post qualifying the bid submitted by lone bidder CNR Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. Ltd. of China.

A team that left for China to visit the manufacturing plant of the Chinese firm last month as part of the post qualification process said the company was capable to undertake the project.

CNR Dalian Locomotive was originally founded in 1899 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNR. The Company has the capacity of producing 600 locomotives, 300 urban transit LRVs, and 500 diesel engines annually and could also repair or modify diesel locomotives.

It would be recalled that Dalian Locomotive CNR submitted a bid of P3.759 billion or P10 million lower than the indicative price of P3.769 billion for the MRT3 capacity expansion project. Another Chinese firm CSR Zhouzhou was disqualified by the DOTC.

The MRT3 services about 600,000 passengers per day exceeding its rated capacity of about 350,000 passengers. It has a fleet of 73 Czech-made air-conditioned rail cars, of which up to 60 three-car trains operate daily while the others are undergoing maintenance.

Under the expansion program, the DOTC said the government would acquire 48 new trains to be able to use a four-car trains that would arrive every 2.5 minutes during peak hours from the current system wherein three-car trains arrive every three minutes during peak hours.