Dateless completion

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo Rosario said the government is not able to estimate the whole budget of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and its traffic commencement date, telling legislators that the Taipa route of the LRT will definitely not open to traffic in 2016 as the construction of the depot has been seriously delayed.
Mr. Rosario presented the progress of LRT construction to the follow-up committee for land and public concession affairs at the Legislative Assembly (AL). He told reporters after the closed-door meeting with the legislators that the government has no condition to presume the budget and commencement date, as the route for the northern part of the LRT on the Peninsula has not yet been confirmed.
According to the Secretary, the route of this part will be decided within the first half of this year following the government analysis of 10,000 opinions gained from a recent 3-month consultation session.
No LRT for Taipa in 2016 yet The Secretary also told legislators that the Taipa side of LRT will not be able to open to traffic in 2016, according to the chairman of the sub-committee of AL Ho Iong San.
Last year, the government said that the Taipa part would be completed between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, believing operations would start by next year.
However, Mr. Rosario told reporters yesterday that one of the chief constructions of the Taipa section – the depot – is subject to serious delay.
“The speed of the depot construction is very low, and it has been slow for a while. As such, we are discussing with the contractor on how to resolve the problem, hoping to reach a consensus with this company,” Mr.
Rosario said, claiming there will be a resolution shortly.
“The depot is a very serious issue. If the [construction of the depot] continues to be delayed, when the construction of the railways are finished, the operation [of the LRT won’t be available] as there is no depot [to store the carriages],” the Secretary added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ho said that the government may consider resolving the delay of the depot through judicial procedure.
On the other hand, regarding a contractor of LRT project – Top Builder Group Ltd. – recently claiming the government should be blamed for the delay of the LRT, Secretary Rosario said neither the government nor contractor should take full responsibility for the delays.
In fact, a recent report by the Commission of Audit had criticised the management of Transportation Infrastructure Office on the LRT project, which is running late and over budget.
The first phase of the LRT project, linking the southern part and northern part of the Peninsula, Barra and Taipa, was firstly slated to be completed by the end of 2011. The new date for the completion of the phase is now expected to be in September 2017.