Common station contractor blames project delays on DOTr

MANILA, Philippines — The embattled contractor of the Unified Grand Central Station defended itself after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) formally terminated its contract for the project, with the company claiming the delays in construction were caused by the government’s failure to pay for work that had been completed.

In a statement on Tuesday, the BF Corp. and Foresight Development and Surveying Co. (BF-FDSC) Consortium said the DOTr was “to blame” for the work delay.

“Our suppliers and workers needed to be paid. Without the contractually agreed payments from DOTr, continuing operations became impossible,” the consortium said.

It added that the “undue and habitual delay in payment” prompted it to “stop work” because continuing would “severely impair” its financial position, along with the quality of work.

It was decided to suspend work to cut further financial losses, it said.

Difficult decision

According to the BF-FDSC, it “exhausted all diplomatic channels—sending numerous payment follow-ups, formal notices, and requesting resolution meetings—before making the difficult decision to suspend work.”

The Inquirer contacted the DOTr for comment, but declined to issue a statement.

Last week, the DOTr issued a formal notice of termination against the contractor, as Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said they were hoping to restart construction work on the project immediately through a public-private partnership.

The BF-FSDC called the termination “unjust” because of its “proven track record of compliance.”

It said the contract remains valid, and it can still work on the project if the DOTr settles outstanding payments.

“We remain open to good faith discussions with DOTr to resolve this matter fairly,” it added.

The contract for the construction of the common station was awarded to BF-FDSC in 2019, with the project supposed to be finished in 2021.

The construction firm was founded by the late Bayani Fernando, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair.

The central station is envisioned to link major railways, Light Rail Transit Line 1, Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and 7. The 13,700-square-meter common station is in Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City, at the intersection of Edsa and North Avenue, and is designed to service up to 500,000 passengers daily. /cb/abc