Busan Universal Rail Inc., the maintenance provider of MRT Line 3, said Thursday it will continue to purchase spare parts to maintain and overhaul trains, despite the inadequate payment it received for its services.
Redentor Roque, legal counsel of Busan, assured the Commission on Audit that the maintenance of MRT 3 trains would continue “despite not receiving the full remuneration for our services, as required our contract with DOTr [Department of Transportation].”
Busan was only partially paid for its September to December maintenance service and was largely unpaid for rendered service since then. It has a pending billing of more than P200 million.
Roque said in a letter to COA that the inherent design and quality concerns on the MRT- 3 system had substantially been causing technical glitches and stoppages from the very start of its operations almost 20 years ago.
Busan said the glitches, stoppages, among others that started plaguing the MRT-3 system since its inception were not caused by normal wear and tear or poor maintenance works.
“Serious issues with the system’s design and quality should be considered relative to train reliability, as they directly affect the system’s current performance and further aggravate the system’s already deteriorating condition,” Roque said.
“These issues substantially caused technical glitches since the beginning of its operations,” Busan said in its letter to COA.
It said that “even diligent and regular preventive and corrective maintenance cannot completely eliminate glitches brought about by design and quality issues.”
Busan attributed to the trains’ substandard design and quality critical issues that beset the train’s performance right from its initial operations.
These issues, compounded by overloading and excessive vibrations, lead to failure of electronic, electrical and mechanical parts, it said.
Data showed that in MRT-3’s first year of operation in 2000, a total of 1,492 glitches were already recorded. By 2008 the glitches reached 1,927, and in 2009 it climbed to 2,199.
Roque said Busan also submitted to COA its position on matter and explained that “the re-scheduling of the execution and delivery of overhauled LRV’s has been recognized through meetings and discussions with the DOTr-MRT3.”
“Buri has consistently justified the said re-schedules when it faced challenges in the sourcing of obsolete components as the OEMs needed time to re-tool and re-manufacture said components to be able to supply orders,” Roque said.