Senator Grace Poe. FILE PHOTO BY MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Senator Grace Poe on Sunday urged the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) to ensure that the rehabilitation of the facilities of the overburdened Metro Rail Transit (MRT) system will be finished on schedule.
The senator, who recently announced her intention to run for president in the 2016 polls, said that the DOTC cannot fail to deliver its promise of rehabilitating the MRT on time as thousands of Filipinos depend on it daily.
“The DOTC cannot bungle this. It should ensure that the new train cars will be delivered on time, that the elevators and escalators will work, and even the comfort rooms will be functional. Our workforce, majority of whom take mass transport, should not have to endure the current conditions longer than they should,” Poe said in a statement.
Heading the Senate Sub-committee on Transportation, Poe reminded the DOTC to adhere to the timeline it presented during the hearings on the MRT conducted last February:
• Rail replacement: September 2015
• Signaling system upgrade: September 2015
• Supply of traction motors: October 2015
• Radio communications upgrade: November 2015
• Supply of OCS Road-Rail Vehicle: May 2016
• Supply of Grinding Machine Rail Vehicle: May 2016
• Total Replacement of Signaling System: October 2016
• Conveyance Facilities: January 2016
• General train overhaul: June 2017
Poe said that of the P4.2 billion needed for the three-year maintenance of the MRT, P1.2 billion has already been earmarked for rehabilitation of various facilities in the MRT such as elevators in its stations and its signaling system.
“That is P1.2 billion in taxpayer’s money that the DOTC is spending. Commuters are well within their rights to demand that what needs to be fixed will be fixed, and the repairs and upgrades will be done on time,” Poe said.
She urged Filipinos to continue reporting the glitches in the MRT as well as their experience while riding its trains.
The MRT serves 650,000 people daily, almost twice its capacity of 350,000. JE