In his meeting with French Ambassador to Manila Thierry Borja de Mozota, del Rosario said the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will work closely with the French firm with an aim to complete six of the Roro projects.

“The French firm has agreed to the DOTC proposal to reconfigure the contract, and has even issued a written commitment stopping the fabrication of the materials needed for the Roro projects, pending the results of its discussion with the DOTC,” said del Rosario in a statement over the weekend. 

He, likewise, gave assurances that the Philippines will pay Eiffel-Matiere SAS Consortium for deliveries to date.

The government’s contract with Eiffel-Matiere was supposed to cover the construction of modular Roro ports in 72 sites around the country.

However, the government suspended the implementation of these projects citing the costly technology. The DOTC-led review committee also argued that Roro ports are unsuitable to the Philippines sea conditions, while it also raised concerns on the superfluity of the investments to be made.

“The French supplier and the DOTC are hopeful that this matter will be resolved before this year’s end,” del Rosario said. He said the government has formed a technical working group composed of experts from the DOTC, the Philippine Ports Authority, and the Office of the Solicitor General to study the settlement of the matter.

(Estrella Torres)