‘Buri can’t bid for MRT, LRT projects’

With the termination of its MRT 3 maintenance contract in November over repeated breakdowns, was Buri hoping for a second chance when it submitted bids for other MRT and LRT projects? —inquirer file photo

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) confirmed on Tuesday that the former maintenance provider of the Metro Rail Transit 3 had indeed submitted bids for three government railway projects although this did not mean that it was qualified and assured of getting the contracts.

According to the DOTr, because of the termination in November of the MRT 3 maintenance contract with Busan Universal Rail Inc. (Buri), the firm and its partners are “disqualified from participating in the bidding of government projects.”

It pointed out that the bid submission of Buri and its partners, Busan Transportation Corp. and Edison Development and Construction, did not mean that they were already qualified.

Disqualified

The DOTr said that following the uniform guidelines for the blacklisting of contractors, Busan and Edison would be disqualified from the three projects which were in the post-qualification stage.

On Christmas Day, Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles claimed that Buri and its joint venture members had “qualified as eligible bidders for three major DOTr projects.”

These projects are the systematic rail replacement project for MRT 3, the maintenance contract for the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT 2) and the restoration of four LRT 2 trains.

Blacklisted

Nograles said in a statement that since the DOTr had terminated its contract with Buri following repeated breakdowns and glitches that plagued the MRT 3, “basic common sense” dictated that the firm and its partners should have been “blacklisted from joining any government project.”

“Anyone in his right mind would not even touch these two companies with a 10-foot pole under the present circumstances,” he added.

According to the DOTr, while the two companies may have submitted the legal, technical as well as financial documents required under Republic Act No. 9184 “which is evaluated on a ‘presence’ or ‘absence’ criteria, Busan and Edison have not been declared qualified for the projects, which is done in the postqualification stage of a procurement process.”

R.A. 9184 is otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act.