DOTr exec: 80 sa 120 light rail cars na binili noong 2017, ‘di mapakinabangan

DOTr exec: 80 sa 120 light rail cars na binili noong 2017, ‘di mapakinabangan

February 16, 2023 @ 5:12 PM 1 month ago


MANILA, Philippines- Sa 120 light rail cars na binili noong 2017, 80 ang hindi magamit sa Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) dahil sa water leaks.

Inamin ito ng isang Department of Transportation (DOTr) official sa mga mambabatas nitong Huwebes, sa pagsasagawa ng House committee on transportation ng conference sa railway projects.

Sinabi ni DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez na bumili ang Philippine government ng light rail vehicles (LRVs) noong 2017 para taasan ang train capacity sa gitna ng binabalak na LRT-1 extension project mula Baclaran hanggang Cavite.

Binili ang LRVs mula sa Mitsubishi Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A. (CAF) at dumating sa bansa noong 2021.

Lahat ng biniling LRVs para sa LRT-1 ay nagkakahalaga ng halos P6 bilyon, ayon kay Chavez.

“The government bought this from Mitsubishi CAF, a Spanish company, in 2017. But when they reached the country, we cannot use 80 of them because of water leaks. In other words, we cannot use that because once it is raining, water may reach the inside of the cars,” base sa DOTr official.

Sinabi ni Chavez na hiniling nila sa Mitsubishi CAF na resolbahin ito at sumunod sa orihinal na procurement plan.

Sinabi rin niya na walang technical team mula sa Pilipinas ang personal na sumuri sa train cars bago ang delivery dahil sa retriksyong dulot ng COVID-19 pandemic,

“What we did is to ask them to submit their rectification plan to follow what was in the contract.  This happened – I would just add the context – this happened during the pandemic when the government cannot send people to do the pamahalaan para sa factory acceptance test,” paglalahad ni Chavez.

“You know this, Mr. Chair, that before the trains are delivered to us, there should be a technical team who would go there to check.  That was our experience when I was the deputy administrator of LRT during the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration,” dagdag niya.

Nang tanungin siya kung sa kanyang palagay ay may mali sa pagbili ng LRVs, aniya: “There is something wrong. One, the DOTr waived its right to inspect but I can also understand, it’s the pandemic.”

“There is something wrong, there was something wrong in the procurement. Before accepting, before even allowing them to deliver, if they cannot at that time decide whether the 80 trains was compliant, they should have at least suspended the delivery, dapat sinuspend muna kung hindi mai-inspect,” dagdag ng opisyal.

Ang tinutukoy na bidding para sa LRVs ay nagsimula noong 2015, at nakumpleto noong 2017.

Nagmula ang pondong ipinambili ng 120 LRVs came fsa loan mula sa Japan International Cooperation Agency habang ang competitive bidding ay isinagawa para pumili ng train provider. RNT/SA