House panel tackles LRT 2 mess
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:12:11 +0000
THE House of Representatives will tackle on Wednesday the fire that hit the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRT)-2, which led to the suspension of its operations.
The Committee on Transportation, led by Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, will discuss the matter at 1 p.m., along with how to combat the traffic crisis in Metro Manila.
Government agencies invited by the panel were the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Also asked to attend the hearing were officials of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LMRC), San Miguel Corp-Skyway and South Luzon Expressway, and city bus operators.
Last Thursday, a fire damaged the transformer connecting the Santolan, Katipunan and Anonas stations, causing the LRT Authority to suspend operations in the three stations for nine months.
The LRT 2 was initially targeted to reopen for “partial operability” by Monday, but had to be moved to Tuesday, with trips only from Cubao to Recto and back.
The LRT administration previously said that it was asking for at least P430 million from the government to fix the damaged system, which would cover tapping a contractor and replacing the affected parts of the railway.
The LRT 2 is eyeing full resumption of operations in June 2020. GLEE JALEA