By Alejandro Del Rosario | August 16, 2014

Criminal neglect

Last Wednesday’s MRT train wreck which injured 35 commuters was an accident that will continue to happen because of government corruption and criminal neglect. Advised by Sumitomo, MRT’s maintenance service provider, that a safety check was overdue, the public utility’s officials instead replaced the Japanese firm.

With the new company not having any track record in service maintenance, breakdowns and delays became standard operating procedure.

MRT is configured to carry 300,000 passengers a day but the number has risen to 500,000. A plan for equipment upgrade and additional carriages was stalled after the Czech ambassador and a Czech company bidding for the contract exposed an alleged extortion attempt by now resigned MRT general manager Al Vitangcol.