MRT-7 construction remains uncertain – DOTC

The Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) project that will extend the mass rail system to San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan remains shrouded in uncertainty, the country's top transport official admitted on Monday.

In a hearing by the Senate sub-committee on Public Services, Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said that issues surrounding the construction of a common station for the country's mass railways as well as the financial questions on the side of the concessionaire have been the reason for the delay.

"We are in the process of getting a compromise agreement," said Abaya when asked about the deadlock involving SM Prime and the Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC), which took over LRT-1, leading to the delay in construction of the common station.

The government had earlier signed a memorandum of agreement with SM Prime Holdings Inc. for the construction of a common station in front of SM City North EDSA Mall. But the proposed station was moved to rise near Ayala Land Inc.'s Trinoma Mall, across North Ave from SM City North.

In this light, SM Prime sued the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) along with the LRT Authority for allegedly violating a 2009 agreement.

Abaya's response drew a rebuke from Poe, the chairman of the sub-committee.

"We are debating on where the common station will be located while commuters are suffering. I think whatever the technical issues are, they will pale in comparison to what commuters have to go through every day," she said.

"President Aquino's term is about to end. He has delivered his final SONA. With the appalling state of public transportation, MRT-7 would have helped ease the burden of commuters," she added.

The MRT-7 project involves the construction of a 23-kilometer elevated railway with 14 stations from San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan to North Avenue in Quezon City.

The government had signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the P69.3 billion project with Universal LRT Corp. (ULC), now controlled by conglomerate San Miguel Corp. back in 2008.

But financing issues and a change of government leadership prevented ULC from constructing MRT-7. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board revived the project in 2013.

Also, Abaya said the approval from the Investment Coordination Committee of the NEDA Board for the MRT-7 project has expired. – Keith Richard Mariano/VS/JST, GMA News