The Department of Transportation (DOTr) today said that high level talks with the Japanese government is currently underway to negotiate for the return of Sumitomo Corporation as maintenance provider of MRT-3.
“High-level discussions with the Government of Japan are ongoing to pave the way for DOTr’s direct engagement of Sumitomo Corporation and its technical partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, under a Government to Government (G2G) Official Development Assistance (ODA) platform,” DOTr said.
It added that a government-to-government agreement is set to be signed before the year ends.
“Sumitomo and Mitsubishi Heavy designed, built, and maintained the MRT-3 in its first 12 years of operations,” DOTr said.
The contract will be a three-year deal for the “rehabilitation and restoration of the system to its original performance standards.”
DOTr added that it is currently studying the unsolicited proposal of Metro Pacific Light Rail Corporation (MPLRC) to operate and maintain (O&M) MRT-3 for 30 years.
“The proposal will soon be endorsed to NEDA for further evaluation,” DOTr said.