Gov’t to rebid P2.25-B MRT3 maintenance contract

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is likely to revise the bidding terms of a P2.25-billion, three-year maintenance contract for the busy Metro Rail Transit Line 3 after a failed auction this week.

The DOTC declared a failed bid on Tuesday after the contract drew no offer from at least five groups that had expressed interest in the deal, transportation department spokesperson Michael Sagcal said.

“It is likely we will improve the terms based on the feedback that we get,” Sagcal said in an interview, without elaborating on the terms.

Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, a DOTC undersecretary and chair of the bids and awards committee, said bidders had yet to file their concerns in writing.

The groups that were earlier reported to be interested in the contract included South Korea’s Busan Metro, Mosa-Inekon and a unit of DMCI Holdings Inc.

In a text message, DMCI president Isidro Consunji said his company did not submit a bid because “train maintenance is not our business.”

Sagcal said some of the interested groups sought a one-month extension in the deadline for bid submission, which was a not granted since the deadline had already been pushed back several times.

He said the DOTC was aiming to publish the new terms before the end of 2014 and hold another “market sounding” event for interested parties.

The failed bidding on Tuesday also means Filipino firm Autre Port Technique Global Inc. (APT Global) will likely continue providing maintenance services for MRT3.

APT Global is maintaining MRT3 on an interim basis for a monthly fee of P57 million, the DOTC said.

The company, whose one-year contract ended last Sept. 5, is also facing stiff fines for the way it maintained the busy railway line. The DOTC said APT Global would be slapped some P27 million in penalty for the first six months of its contract period.

That figure is in addition to an P18-million single day fine on Aug. 23, when the entire MRT3 shut down operations for half a day after its communications system broke down.

One bidder, who declined to be named, earlier noted the challenges in taking on the maintenance contract of MRT3, given that many of its systems were outdated, with needed replacements and rehabilitation now about five years overdue.

MRT3’s operations were partially disrupted twice this month due to damaged rails. The DOTC is in the process of ordering about 800 stock rails to augment dwindling supplies and provide crucial replacements, but these are expected to arrive in the first half of 2015.

The DOTC and APT Global have drawn criticism for the way MRT3 is being managed. The train line, which runs along Edsa in Metro Manila, suffers from long queues, packed train cars and frequent breakdowns.