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THE TRANSPORTATION department, which had earlier insisted on bidding out a four-year contract to run the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), has relented on the issue and instead said it will review Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s (MPIC) proposal for a 30-year deal.
Transportation Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II yesterday said in a statement he “welcomed” Metro Pacific’s move to revive its proposal to rehabilitate and upgrade the MRT-3’s facilities.
The department will “re-examine” the proposal “so the interest of the thousands of commuters will not sacrificed,” the statement read.
This, as Metro Pacific urged the government last week to start processing its $300-million bid to run the rail transit for more than 30 years. The bid had been submitted before the state agency decided to bid out a four- to five-year operations and maintenance contract for the MRT-3 instead.
The infusion would go into doubling the train system’s capacity to 700,000 passengers per day through 73 more new light rail vehicles and new signaling equipment.
On top of that project cost, the firm had also offered to buy out the government’s stake in the venture for $350 million.
The proposal was left untouched by the department after it decided on formally starting the process of the auction of the P15-billion operations and maintenance contract for the Light Rail Transit Line-1 and the MRT-3, the first project under the government’s public-private partnership thrust.
Forty-five firms submitted their formal expressions of interest before and on the April 15 deadline, and of these companies, 16 firms so far have bought P500,000 worth of bid documents.
However, last June 21, the Transportation department deferred the opening of bids for the project, originally slated for July 11 to an indefinite date, due to a change in leadership.
Mr. Roxas, upon assuming office on July 1, has decided to put all projects and activities of the department on hold, pending a review.
“We still have not yet received the said proposal of MPIC, and once we have it, a thorough review and studies will be conducted so that the services and the day-to-day operations of MRT will efficiently be delivered to the transporting public,” Mr. Roxas said in the statement.
Shares in Metro Pacific, whose core profits grew by 38% to P2.658 billion in the first half, closed by 5% or P0.17 lower to P3.22 each yesterday.
The conglomerate is the local unit of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., which partly owns the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).
Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld.
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By: Kathleen A. Martin
Source: Business World, Aug. 9, 2011
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