Finance Dept.: Fate of MRT-3 contract lies with DOTC

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will have to review the contract to operate and maintain the Metro Rail Transit-3 or MRT-3, the Department of Finance said Wednesday.   The contract is part of the projects the government wants to offer under the public-private partnership program of the Aquino administration.   But it has been taken off the list until the DOTC has completed a review of the contract, according to the Department of Finance.   “We do not want to pre-empt the results of the study being undertaken by the DOTC on MRT-3,” he said.   In a statement Wednesday, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the decision on the MRT-3 contract now depends on the DOTC recommendation.   The DOTC is also studying the $300-million proposal of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. to run MRT-3, which include doubling its passenger capacity to 700,000 a day.   The PPP program aims to tap the private sector in 80 large-scale infrastructure projects worth P740 billion starting this year.   “At the end of the day, we remain focused on our goal of tapping private sector expertise to bridge our infrastructure gap so that we boost our competitiveness globally,” Purisima said. — VS, GMA News