Failed Bidding For MRT3 Maintenance, A Sign of Inefficiency? #ExpertWriter

Failed Bidding For MRT3 Maintenance, A Sign of Inefficiency? #ExpertWriter

After a long squabble of MRTC and DOTC for the management and operation of MRT3-EDSA, it came to the point that the riding public was very much disgusted with the government ways of solving this issue. Even from the onset of this Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) Agreement, failure seems to be founded in all direction, by which, series of negative images of people handling this MRT3 contracts are doomed.

The DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya still showing what seems to be his forte in dealing with this MRT3 train system problems. He dictated the mandate of being a leader, but lacks the knowledge of how to give solutions for this never-ending MRT3 saga.

The MRT Holdings and MRTC are more likely the thing of the past. Trying to help the ailing MRT3 train system by which, Robert Sobrepena opened-up his way in uniting with the government for this purpose.

The Senate hearing who conducted the findings of MRT3 story, never give the true worth of eliminating the problems and giving constructive solutions. Instead, the DOTC still, continuing its high hopes of deciphering series of their moves to put forward the MRT3 development.

Another facet of this movement is to perform the bid of companies who are interested in dealing with MRT3 maintenance; interested bidders include DMCI Holdings Incorporated, Miescorrail Incorporated of the Manila Electric Company, Busan Metro of Korea, the joint venture of Mosa - Inekon of Czech Republic, and SMRT International Pte. Ltd.

The government deferred the bids submission twice, last October 13 and 28 of 2014 in which failure showed overtime for DOTC. Interested companies for this bidding cannot comprehend the DOTC’s ruling. Some of the concerns raised by prospective bidders were the amount of penalties to be imposed by the government on the maintenance contractor for certain violations, plus the key performance indicators (KPIs) to be delivered. In fact interested businessmen knew the dilapidated situation of MRT3 platform and yet, the new rulings for bidders are far more realistic in nature.

There’s no doubt that the DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya was not able to project the outcome of this failed bidding that constitute the effectiveness of his decision-making strategy; how and when to do such positive moves while he’s busy promoting the presidential bid of Mar Roxas. Why not concentrate fully for the transportation problems especially the MRT3 and LRT which needs constant monitoring and development?

The government must review the terms of reference for the 3-year maintenance contract due to the issues raised by the prospective bidders which is set to republish the new terms and conditions. And, rebidding ensues this month as what the DOTC reported. It prefers a longer maintenance contract to replace the current maintenance provider Autre Porte Technique Global Incorporated (APT) and its local partner, Global Incorporated.

The longer this bidding process for the selected maintenance provider, the longer it takes to facilitate the movement of the MRT3 development. The The Department of Transportation and Communications DOTC Secretary should maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of his mandate to instill the train system for the good of the riding public and the Filipinos as a whole.

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MRT3 Poor Maintenance Means Accidents #ExpertWriter

MRT3 train went through the metal railings at the Taft Avenue station last Wednesday, 13th of August 2014 that caused injury to at least 38 people and government authorities were eager to discover the cause of the incident.

Authorities will be investigating if the accident was caused by human error on the part of the train operators or by the mechanical failure of the train couplings. The train had stopped dead on its tracks, due supposedly to power drop at the catenary, the stick that links the electricity-powered LRVs to the cable above.

Attempts to restart the train failed. The next three-LRV train unloaded its passengers at Magallanes, and then proceeded to the rescue 50 meters away. After coupling with the stalled train, the second began to push it down the tracks towards road-level Taft. It had just left the Magallanes station. The railway from Magallanes station to Taft Avenue station has a downward slope that made the coupler to snap. Besides, the weight of the first train with passengers caused the gravity to pull like a rollercoaster. Instead of stopping it, the brake malfunctions and gave way to bumped, went through the metal railings that caused damage to the passengers and the train itself.

Is it true that they connected and locked properly? Tested it? If it’s locked, they were doing the right procedures? Is there a coupler’s mechanical failure? Or, the driver’s forgot about the downward slope?

MRT safety procedures require the operator to contain the passengers inside the train if it stalls in between stations. And, it would have been too dangerous to make passengers alight from the stalled train before another train could push it to the nearest station.

The poor maintenance of the MRT3 which is managed by DOTC headed by Jun Abaya wanted to elevate its services. But, he should exert more efforts in developing the train systems for the consumption of the riding public. His statement, “Riding is a personal decision. I won't go of my way to convince people to ride the MRT," makes him a hypocrite, not a leader of DOTC. He should at least, face the consequences when worst comes to worst, because that's his responsibility to the people.

The MRT3 was built on budget and on schedule. It was fully accepted by foreign experts and the Philippine government in 2000. The trains operated with no major accidents for 12 years under Sumimoto maintenance. Sumimoto and Mitsubishi continually upgraded maintenance procedures. All major accidents happened only in the last 2 years under the PHTRAMS-Vitangcol-linked maintenance groups.

Because of this negative image of MRT due to Vittangcol case, the contract turned into a damaging event like what happened last 13th of August 2014. It should never be a clumsy decision when it comes to finding maintenance group to take good care of all coasters. Yes, there were other problems in getting people to manage the MRT3 properly, but, the leader like the DOTC must be on guard always for the good of the riding public. The government must be aware and ready to apply their long-term solutions at once to avoid accidents in the future.

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