DOTr to cancel agreement with MRT-3 maintenance contractor

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is cutting its ties with Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI), the maintenance service provider of the Metro Rail Transit Line-3, amid allegations of purchasing and installing fake train safety equipment for the mass rail system.

"The Office of the Undersecretary for Railways (OUR) has already signed a position paper that calls for the termination of contract with BURI," Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez told a House of Representatives panel during a briefing on DOTr's proposed 2018 budget of P73.8 billion.

"Another position paper was signed and prepared by the OUR terminating the signaling system," he said.

PBA party-list Representative Jericho Nograles has filed a resolution seeking investigation into allegations of the fake train safety equipment.

BURI Spokesperson Charles Mercado declined to comment, noting that the company has yet to receive any communication from DOTr.

"There is a procedure to be followed in that. We have not received any order from the department regarding termination. Wala pa kaming narerecieve," he saidw.

"That has legal implications. We don't want to react to something unofficial. Paulit ulit lang naman sinasabi nila 'yan. There is a procedure to be followed regarding termination of government agencies," he added.

On November 28, 2016, BURI purchased from Diamond Pearl Manufacturing P4 million worth of supposedly fake train safety equipment, which have been installed in the train coaches, according to the resolution.

Diamond Pearl Manufacturing, however, was not an authorized supplier and distributor of proprietary parts from Bombardier Transportation Signal Ltd., the maker of MRT-3 safety components for signaling system.

In filing the resolution, Nograles noted that a cause of service interruptions of the MRT-3 was the signaling system or safety system – with 21 incidents reported between January 2016 and July 2017.

Citing data from the MRT Control Center, Nograles noted that the mass transport system experienced the most number of service interruptions – 58 under BURI – in 2016.

"As far as the MRT-3 and the OUR, we've been coordinating with the Office of the Undersecretary for Legal and provided them with the necessary information," Chavez said during the budget briefing.

In case the contract with BURI gets canceled, a maintenance transition team will be created, Chavez said.

"The maintenance transition team will be composed of the DOTr and MRT-3, the employees of BURI, where most of them were all employees of the past maintenance service provider," he said.

"In the event the maintenance transition team is created, immediately we will procure the next service provider. But this time, under the leadership of Secretary Tugade, it's a matter of policy that all kinds of procurement should be very transparent," he added.

Early this year, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade was supposedly infuriated upon learning that – based on an investigation report – BURI was irresponsible in handling the MRT. — With a report by Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News