DOTC to award P4.25-B MRT deal through negotiated procurement

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has declared an emergency situation necessitating a negotiated procurement for a P4.25-billion contract for the long-term maintenance provider of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3). 

The DOTC plans to award the contract, which will cover a period of three years, this year.

“We’re targeting to award the contract within the year, and to have the new maintenance provider begin its services in January next year,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said.

The DOTC is looking for a long-term maintenance provider for the commuter train system, which spans the North Avenue station in Quezon City up to the Taft station in Pasay City, after the Government  Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) unanimously approved the resort to an emergency procurement or negotiated mode of procurement on Aug. 20, pursuant to Section 53.2 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Procurement Law. 

In the DOTC’s request for the GPPB’s approval, the agency cited the immediate need for a three-year total maintenance provider, as well as the general overhaul of existing train coaches and the replacement of the rail line’s signaling system to address the core problems of obsolescence and complete wear-and-tear of the train system.

The move is being undertaken by the government amid the failure of the Sobrepeña-controlled private owner of the MRT-3 to add coaches,  conduct proper train overhauling, replace rail tracks and to upgrade the signaling system, among others.

MRT-3 carries close to 600,000 passengers per day, way above its designed capacity of 350,000.

For the procurement of the long-term maintenance provider, the DOTC invited firms for initial talks last week. 

The DOTC said it invited “established, well-reputed international expert groups in the railway maintenance industry” for the project. – With Michael Punongbayan, Edu Punay