Northrail, GMA Ports projects stall
BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
THE Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has recommended to President Benigno Aquino 3rd the renegotiation of two contracts approved by the previous administration.
Ruben Reinoso, DOTC undersecretary for planning and projects told reporters that the agency has completed the review of the North Luzon Railway Project and the Greater Maritime Access (GMA) Ports Project, with proposals for contract renegotiation.
“We have to renegotiate the contract because the way the contract was written [for Northrail] right now, there are a lot of ambiguous [items] in the contract . . . we want to write a clear and unambiguous contract,” Reinoso said.
He said the government should complete the Northrail because it is a critical component linking the Clark International Airport and Manila all the way to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Reinoso said physical accomplishment by contractor China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. Group (CNMEG) stood at 20 percent for the 32.2-kilometer railway from Caloocan City in Metro Manila to Malolos City in Bulacan.
The second phase of the project is from Malolos to Clark, Pampanga.
“We are also exploring the possibility of accessing supplemental financing from the Chinse government because the origingal financing that was suspended by the Chinese government has become insuffcient because as is the contract was signed sometime 2003. It’s almost ten years now,” Reinoso said.
The government borrowed $400 million from China Export Import Bank to finance the Caloocan to Malolos line and another $500 million for the Malolos to Clark line.
Reinoso, however, said that their proposed changes are only recommendatory because they also require approval from the Chinese government.
“It’s an agreement between governments, anything that we agreed on
should have an approval of the other government. They are discussing it not only at the contractor level but at the government level. All the issues should have to be approved by the Chinese government,” he said.
“The objective of the DOTC here is really to move forward the project and compete it in the short time possible given the constraints that we have encountered in the past,” he said.
“In GMA Ports, we have a contractual obligation . . . A contract renegotiation is an option that we are looking into and we [are] also not ruling out the cancellation of the project,” he said.
“If you don’t do that [honor the contract] who will trust us,” he said.
He said that part of the loan can be used to the plan the Manila
Bay-Pasig River-Laguna Lake (MAPALLA) Ferry System since the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) cannot identify additional ports that can be installed.
“Based on the recommendation of the PPA it would have been that most of the ports that are supposed to be implemented under the program has already been undertaken by the PPA in the past . . . only two has been qualified,” the official said.
Reinoso also said the project is not “overpriced” but the technology is expensive.
Patrick Azanza, senior adviser to the Eiffel-Matiere Consortium had threatened to sue the Aquino government for contractual violations if the government cancels the P11.8 billion GMA Project.
Under the contract, the consortium will install 72 modular ports nationwide.
Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/business/northrail-gma-ports-projects-stall/
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