The 48 inoperable light rail vehicles (LRVs) purchased during the Aquino administration may still be returned to China, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez said his office has written to at least four internationally-known third-party auditors that would certify the 48 LRVs are useless and not compatible with the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) system in the Philippines.
“Yung audit na ‘yan sasabihin sa ‘tin kung pwede ba tumakbo or hindi or ibabalik na lang sa China. ‘Yun ang ginawa ng Singapore, ng Malaysia, ng Hong Kong,” GMA News quoted Chavez during the Senate finance committee hearing on proposed budget of DOTr for 2018.
He also said the LRVs ordered were three tons heavier than what is stated in the contract.
“What is required in the contract is 46,300 kilograms without passengers. Ang binigay, 49,700 kilograms. That’s three tons heavier than what is required in the contract,” the DOTr official said.
Chavez also said that only 29 out of 48 LRVs have been installed with signalling systems and only four have been certified to be readily available.
However, Chavez said that even if the signaling system would be fixed, the LRVs can’t still be used because it has no “international party certicate” as instructed by DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade.
Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate public services committee conducting an investigation of the MRT system, said that someone should taken to the court for this purchase.
The previous administration paid Php 3.8 billion for the LRVs, which were ordered from Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. in China.
Source: GMA News, Philippine Star
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