2 foreign groups eyeing P2.25-B MRT contract

Metro Rail Transit Line 3. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

At least two foreign groups, including controversial Czech firm Inekon, have acquired bid documents for the P2.25-billion contract to maintain the busy Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) over the next three years.

A person with knowledge of the matter said the groups were South Korea’s Busan Metro and a venture called Mosa Inekon. Other firms were present during a pre-bid conference held Friday, the person said, without elaborating.

Inekon Group, which was the original manufacturer of MRT-3 trains, was embroiled in controversy last year after Czech ambassador Josef Ryctar accused former MRT 3 general manager Al Vitangcol III for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Inekon.

The amount is allegedly in exchange for a new train supply deal, that eventually went to China’s Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co.

Vitangcol was removed from his post in May this year.

The opening of bids, meanwhile, has been set on Oct. 13, the auction’s invitation showed.

The government is seeking a new maintenance provider after the one-year contract of Filipino firm Autre Port Technique Global Inc. (APT Global) ended last Sept. 5.

The Transportation department said APT Global would continue to operate MRT 3 on a month-to-month basis until the new contract is awarded or government decides to take over.

The department is increasing the contract length to draw bigger players, amid the checked track record of APT Global during its one-year period.

The firm is facing about P27.1 million in penalties for the first six months of its contract period while the department rationalizes fines for the second half. That figure is in addition to an P18-million single day fine on Aug. 23, when the entire MRT 3 shut down operations for half a day after its communications system broke down.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said there was no decision yet on whether APT Global would be allowed to participate in the bid for the MRT-3 maintenance contract.

“It depends on our final assessment of their performance,” he said.

The Department and APT Global have drawn fierce criticism for the way MRT 3 is being managed. The train line, which runs on Edsa in Metro Manila, suffers from long queues, packed train cars and frequent breakdowns.