LRTA to sue condominium builder for debris falling on rail line

MANILA, Philippines - The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) said it will sue the owner and the contractor of a condominium building under construction along Taft Avenue after debris fell from the building on to the LRT Line 1 yesterday morning, causing the line to stop operating for two hours.

LRTA administrator Melquiades Robles said aside from costing the LRTA more than P500,000 in lost revenue, thousands of passengers were stranded and inconvenienced by apparent negligence at the Victoria de Manila construction site.

“We are certainly going after them. More than the loss of our revenue, their negligence has caused inconvenience to our passengers, considering that it happened at a peak hour,” Robles said.

He said a portion of wire mesh that collects debris falling from the worksite at the corner of Taft and Gil Puyat Avenues gave way at around 7:45 a.m.

LRTA engineers and safety officers responding to the incident found that the debris damaged the catenary wiring of the rail line before falling down the northbound tracks. The catenary wire is the source of power that makes the trains run.

LRTA management had to cut off the power supply from UN Avenue Station to Baclaran Station and implement half-line operations from Central to Monumento Stations, and vice versa to allow the concerned officers to retrieve the fallen debris and repair the damaged wire. Normal operations resumed at around 9:45 a.m.

Robles appealed to building owners and contractors constructing structures along its Baclaran-Monumento and Recto-Santolan lines to be more vigilant on the safety aspect of their operation. – Rainier Allan Ronda